turn left turn right
by krcube
Summary: LJ. He turns left, she turns right. Through a strange twist of fate, they never meet, yet are supposed to be together. The two are completely unaware of each other, until they chance an encounter and realise the missing pieces of their lives. PURE FLUFF!
1. R if only someday

**Hi people, I'm back after a very very long absence from I needed a break with all the schoolwork and stuff piling up, and I've been suffering from sever writer's block. However, I've spent my time away from fanfiction updating and revising this fic since I've realized that my writing style has changed to a more descriptive one. **

**Cheerio and do read on, and continue to support me! Thanks/**

**cube**

**Turn Right Turn Left.**

**Chapter 1**: If only someday…

**Disclaimer**: Am not JK Rowling. You get the idea. If I was I would have been earning big bucks by now... This story is also adapted from the Taiwanese movie of the same name.

**Summary**:

This story is about two ill-fated young people, James and Lily, who are destined to be together, but unfortunately their paths never cross. James always turns left, while Lily turns right. Through some strange coincidence, they never meet, even though James is Head Boy while Lily is Head Girl, and have totally no idea who the other party is. They chance upon an encounter in Hogsmeade, and find that they have in fact, met before.

But when they part, they realise they have no means of contacting each other, and set out to find their soul mate.

**Date posted**: 22/9/2003

**Revised**: 16/6/2004

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**----- Earlier that day -----**

Strange shops lined the wide cobblestone street, each with names queerer than the last, and every one with strange displays of items in the shop sill. It was not unlike the cities of old times, with smaller streets winding off behind houses and shops. Far in the distance, a white triangular-shaped building of four flours – the tallest building around – stood looking over the village – _it was a village, regardless of the name it was given_ -, beautiful golden letters that read '_Gringrotts_' carved into the white marble for all to see. With its colourful tiled roofs and strange lopsided structures, looking as though it might topple onto the steady stream of people walking up and down the street, it would have looked very odd in modern London. Yet here, people walked by as though it were all _normal_.

Lily Evans walked down the Main Street of Diagon Alley, looking around her in wonder.

'Even after seven years, this place never fails to amaze me,' She thought wryly to herself as she nimbly sidestepped a boy running past her, apparently looking for his pet toad. She peered into every shop window she walked past, looking wistfully at the chemist with its strange puffing potions and the astronomy shop with its moving model of the galaxy, stopping at selected shops to purchase items that she would need for her coming year at school.

Finally, with several bulging bags floating magically behind her, she entered the last, and her favourite shop of all, '_Flourish and Blotts_'. Lily pushed open the glass door and disappeared into the shop, the door bell jingling merrily above her head, and her bags of shopping trailing happily behind her.

Right beside _Flourish and Blotts, _the door opened and James Potter stepped out from _Quality Quidditch Supplies,_ a stack of Quidditch cards resting snugly in his pocket, and a new, top-of-the-range Silver Arrow atop a shoulder.

He stopped at the entrance of the shop, the autumn breeze, showing the first traces of winter cold, ruffling his unruly hair. He stood on the front step of the shop for a moment and looked up and down the streets of Diagon Alley, letting a smile touch his face. Beside him, the door to _Flourish and Blotts_ stood slightly ajar, and Jenski, the old shopkeeper could be heard offering his services to a certain Miss Evans, undoubtedly there for a last minute spot of shopping before the school term started. A gust of wind swept by, and the door swung shut, cutting off all sound from within. He glanced at his watch, and a smile appeared on his face.

His watch, something that all four Marauders had, currently read: _Oi_! Hurry up you fat ass!

"I had best be off now, Moony and Padfoot are probably already wrecking my room," he said, and turned left down the street, disappearing quickly into the mass of people.

Above him, the clock tower's cogs whirled and the hour hand landed on six. The clock began tolling.

As the last of six tolls sounded, Lily stepped out of the magical bookstore. Pausing for a moment at the doorway, she turned back and called, "bye Mr. Jenski!" But the old shopkeeper had already disappeared into the labyrinth network of shelves that characterized the shop. Out of habit, she turned right and set off down the street.

As the two left, neither saw the large signboard that had gone up besides the divination store.

It read:

**_Life is full of coincidences.  
Maybe someday, even parallel lines will cross._**

**_-----_**

Seventeen-year old Lily Evans sat curled up in her favorite arm-chair. It was old and worn, but still Lily loved it. It had been a gift from her grandmother shortly before she passed away two years ago. And it held many fond memories for Lily.

Unconsciously, she tucked a wayward lock of gleaming red hair behind her ear, her eyes locked on a large book in front of her.

Lily sighed and closed the book. It was already worn around the edges, and some pages were falling off. She had already memorized the entire book, but yet somehow she felt drawn to it.

She stood up and tenderly placed the book back on her shelf, careful not to dislodge any pages further.

'Grandmama, I love you.'

As she turned, she caught sight of her reflection in the mirror, and was once again, pleasantly surprised at how much she had grown since attending Hogwarts. Standing at 168cm tall, she was taller than the average girl. Her red hair fell in gleaming waves down her back and startling emerald green eyes looked out from a lovely oval face.

She walked towards the large window in her room and placed her hands on the sill, looking upwards into the dark blue skies of the London night and smiled.

She never felt alone, not when she was looking up at the stars. Her grandma was always up there, smiling down upon her. As if to prove Lily right, a star twinkled fiercely, eclipsing the other stars in the night sky in its radiance.

She closed her eyes and allowed the cool night breeze to play across her face.

'I'll be going back to Hogwarts tomorrow...' she mused silently to herself.

Lily Evans was, in fact, not your normal teenager. Sure, she was troubled by schoolwork, and to a smaller extent, boys, and of course her friendships and relationships with her family. She was a witch, and a very good one at that. Come tomorrow, she would be packed on board Hogwarts Express and sent back to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Her trunk was already packed, spell-books underneath clothes and other items Lily thought to bring.

'I'm Head Girl, Grandmama. Aren't you proud of me? Petunia's not too pleased though. She keeps taunting me about how weird I already am, without having to keep a whole bunch of others like myself in check.'

And for one moment, sadness flitted across that lovely face.

'Sometimes, I just wish she wouldn't... hate me so much.'

'But, enough on sad matters. I can't wait to go back to Hogwarts. I'm sure this'll be an excellent year, even though practically no one knows of my existence. I kind of like it that way. No bothersome prank-pulling or excessive parties and what-not to go to...'

'I wonder if there's really such thing as two people who are fated to be together. That's interesting don't you think? Maybe the person I bump into everyday could be my husband ten years down the road...' she thought to herself.

She opened her eyes in time to see a bright shower of sparks emitted from the star that was still twinkling fiercely, and smiled softly.

'I believe you Grandmama. Some where out there, my special someone is waiting...'

**_-----_**

Down the street, turn left, and you would enter the most wealthy district in the whole London.

Yet, most of England's wealthy _muggles_lived elsewhere, for this was a totally wizarding community housing the likes of the famous Potter home, as well as the Bates's, family to the war-hero of the Grindelwald era, a certain Steve Bates.

James Potter angrily drew his hand through his already ruffled hair.

"Padfoot! Give me back my bloody broom. I've gotta pack. And you should too! Mum's gonna be waking us up at the crack of dawn! There'll be no time then. Padfoot? PADFOOT! Are you even listening to me?" James yelled at his best friend who was currently floating near the top of the ceiling on a Silver Arrow, a magnificent broom with a dark brown finishing.

James Potter, with his unruly hair, and chocolate brown eyes, could melt the hearts of every girl in the school. In addition to that, his immense skill at Quidditch as well as his sculpted body made him a target for fan girls. He was the leader of the Marauders, the one that kept the group together, and had an outgoing streak in him.

Sirius Black was also a member of the Quidditch team. His hair was rather long, with midnight blue streaks in them, while different hues of blue danced around in the depths of his dark eyes. He claimed that his eyes had never let him down before, and nearly the whole of the Hogwarts female population could also attest to that fact. His guts were what usually let them accomplish their very outlandish pranks. He could almost always charm his way into girls hearts as well as out of trouble. Even McGonagall, the strictest teacher Hogwarts had to offer often let him get out of trouble with a couple of points gone and a hint of a smile playing on her face.

The third member, Remus Lupin, or Moony if you preferred, walked in at that moment. He was the most quiet of the group. Dirty blond hair framed a pale face and brown eyes that held wisdom above his years. He was the schemer, and usually the architect behind all the Marauders pranks. Despite his quiet disposition, he was still very popular with the girls. It could have been something to do with his gentlemanly manners, or the fact that he was part of the Marauders...

"Moony!" Sirius exclaimed gleefully! "Absolutely spiffing to see you! I see you're finally back from raiding James' kitchen? So tell me-"

"Moony! Thank goodness you're here!" James gestured angrily at Sirius.

"Come and get me then. But me being the star of the Quidditch team and all..." Sirius taunted.

Remus shook his head slowly and laughed at his friends.

A maniacal grin curled the ends of James' mouth, and, gesturing silently to Remus, he pointed to two extra brooms propped carelessly onto the edge of the bed, and then glanced up at Sirius. A wolfish grin cracked Remus' face as nodded gleefully.

Up ahead, a blissfully unaware Sirius was singing the age-old 'Bananas in Pajamas' song.

Halfway through, the song was brought to an abrupt end as Sirius indignantly yelped, "HEY! Who did that!"

Turning a full 360degrees in mid-air, he came face-to-face with a grinning James throwing sticky ping-pong burrs at him.

"Ouch! ...ouch!"

With all his attention focused on James, Sirius completely forgot about the presence of the quieter Marauder in the room, which was a grave mistake, for Remus was never to be underestimated, and only realized when it was too late.

"Wait! Where's Remus?" Sirius exclaimed while trying to avoid James' ammo. Impossible as it was, James' grin seemed to widen even further and a look of horrid recognition crossed Sirius' features.

"_Holy shit..._" he breathed quietly.

A discreet cough sounded behind him, and he turned, only to see Remus lying lazily on a broom handle, grinning away madly, holding something that looked strangely like... plastic wrap?

At that moment, Sirius wondered whether it was Remus, and not James, that was the most dangerous in their group.

Ten minutes later, a helpless Sirius dangled from the roof of the Potter mansion, completely wrapped up in plastic wrap, with not a stitch on him, and the burrs attached onto every part of him.

**_-----_**

Lily Evans awoke the next day at the crack of dawn and yawned sleepily.

"Time to get up Feathers," she said, addressing her sleeping owl.

The snowy white animal ruffled its feathers importantly and turned to fix Lily with an amber eye.

"We're going back to Hogwarts."

Half an hour later, her fathers' car pulled out of the driveway and turned right onto the already bustling streets.

**_-----_**

James awoke abruptly, feeling rather cold, and let out a contented sigh. Everything was fine, and in a few moments, he would be returning back to Hogwarts. He sifted uncomfortably in his blankets, and looked out.

"What the hell?!"

Sirius' wicked grin greeted him from ten feet below. James was suspended like a hammock from the ceiling. "_**Revenge**_... Is sweet, Prongs, my boy."

"**SIRIUS**!!!! I'll get you for this!"

With a loud yell, he leapt out of the blanket and landed lightly on the feet, proceeding to chase a horrified Sirius round and round Remus, who was calmly packing the last of his things into his chest.

"Well! After what you did to me last night, I would say it was a fair payback, wouldn't you?" Sirius yelled as he ran.

"Boys! James, dear? It's time to go..." James' mum's voice floated up from the stairwell.

"Ready mum!" James yelled in reply. "Just give me a few moments to skin and gut Sirius first!"

"All right! But you'll have to make it quick!" Came the reply, causing James and Remus to laugh, and Sirius to mutter something under his breath, looking rather indignant.

In five minutes time, the Potter's car drove down the driveway and turned left.

**_-----_**

On usual days, Kings' Cross bustled with self-important _muggles_, who walk around purposefully to catch their trains to who-knows-where, and impatient people sat at the café, waiting for the arrival, or departure of a particular train. Trains chugged busily into and out of the station, and never at any hour was the station ever quiet.

Muggles would not see anything that was not shoved under their eyes, which was why they were totally oblivious to the existence of another world right on their doorstep.

Twice every year, this predictable flow of people would be disrupted by a group of oddly-dressed, and completely out-of-the-ordinary folk that walked about in large groups discussing about '_Newts tails_' and '_Care of Magical Creatures_', completely oblivious to the wide-eyes stares they received from the normal people of England. Every year, on September first, this group of people would gather with a palpable sense of anticipation and eagerness, and greet each other as though they would old friends.

James walked through the barrier between Platform 9 and 10. An instant later, him and his two other friends materialised on the other side of the barrier, where a sign overhead read _Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters_, and a vividly scarlet steam train sat on the rails spewing steam into the air.

"Moony, Padfoot, my boys, we're home," James said and grinned evilly.

Another guy stalked up to them, eyebrows drawn down as though he had just suffered a severe shock.

"Honestly Padfoot," he said in indignation as he came within hearing range of the three. "Those fans of yours are rabid. They try some dirty trick or other every year to get to you, but seriously, I was waylaid by at least twenty of them, and I would have been kidnapped and handed over to Stacey and her gang if you did not appear in the next twenty seconds! I was this close from death!" He exclaimed, holding his thumb and index finger a hair-width apart.

He was rather tall but still losing out in height to the other three marauders, and had sparkling blue eyes. This was Peter Pettigrew, the last quarter of the Marauders. (Hmm, just take it that he isn't bad here. I wouldn't want to spoil the entire image of the Marauders just coz of one fat short Peter)

The other three sniggered. It was common knowledge that Stacey and her group were ardent supporters of Peter.

And, as it was with every year, the moment they stepped through the barrier, looks were directed their way. Most of the Hogwarts female population had turned and started openly staring at them, sub-consciously smoothing their hair and adjusting their skirts, grinning weakly every time a Marauders' gaze passed over them.

A chorus of "Hey's" followed in their wake as they slowly made their way up to the head of the train, Sirius and Peter taking the liberty of announcing to the world that they were currently available.

"Padfoot, Wormtail. You guys are sooo..." James drawled. "If you two are done here, I suggest we go find those damned Slytherins!"

An instant later, Lily walked through the barrier. No one took any notice of the girl standing at the entrance of the platform.

It appeared as though one or a few of the school idols had appeared, for whispers of _The Marauders_, or occasionally a guys' name followed a trail of girls who were still turned in a particular direction.

Lily shook her head. She did not know the people mentioned, and neither did she need to know. Turning, she made her way to the tail end of the train, in the direction opposite of where those outside had their gazes fixed on.

End of Chapter One.  
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**cube**


	2. R maybe parallel lines could cross?

**Turn Right Turn Left.**

**Chapter 2**: Maybe parallel lines could cross?

**Disclaimer**: Am not JK Rowling. You get the idea. If I was I would have been earning big bucks by now... This story is also adapted from the Taiwanese movie of the same name.

**Summary**:

This story is about two ill-fated young people, James and Lily, who are destined to be together, but unfortunately their paths never cross. James always turns left, while Lily turns right. Through some strange coincidence, they never meet, even though James is Head Boy while Lily is Head Girl, and have totally no idea who the other party is. They chance upon an encounter in Hogsmeade, and find that they have in fact, met before.

But when they part, they realise they have no means of contacting each other, and set out to find their soul mate.

**Date posted**: 26 September 2003

**Revised**: 16/6/2004

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Up in the highlands of Scotland, as the sun crept towards the edge of the horizon, throwing the last glorious rays of gold onto the seemingly endless grounds of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and the grounds lay silent and empty in the musty and warm darkness of the end of summer, a scarlet steam train chugged wearily into the little station in the village of Hogsmeade. Bored by the long journey, students piled steadily onto the tiny platform, anxious to get up to the castle where they could be properly fed and looking forward to seeing their friends after the long period of absence.

The castle loomed over the tiny village of Hogsmeade, towers and turrents sticking up at odd, almost impossible angles by MUggle standards bore testament to the powers of magic, and from every window lights twinkled merrily, as though the castle was eagerly anticipating the return of its students.

The familiar wretched voice of the caretaker, Argus Filch, yelled, "first years! First years here you lousy wretched creatures. Anyone who dallies gets left behind you hear me!" His protruding eyes glaring at everyone from a gaunt and bloodless face, lips curled back in a sneer. _"... if it were up to me, all you brats wouldn't have belonged in this school..._" he muttered to himself.

Already, a steady stream of horseless carriages were rambling up the cobblestone path towards the gigantic castle that loomed over the tiny village, and sounds of chatter filled the air.

As the last of the students cleared from the train, a head stuck out from the last compartment, followed by the rest of Lily Evans. She stepped off the train, and looked up to see a pair of inquisitive bright blue eyes staring back at her.

"YAH!" She yelled, stumbling back into the train, and catching her head on the catch of the door. "Oww! ...owww!" She yelped comically, and silently cursed herself for being so stupid, as the owl that had been staring at her took flight into the sky, appearing as though it was hooting gleefully at her.

Stooping, she picked up the creamy white envelop that the owl had drooped, surprised to see her name written on the front in flowing letters. Whistling to Feathers to follow, she started up to school in the last carriage, leaving Feathers to soar behind her.

**_-----_**

The Great Hall, as usual, was magnificent, with warm golden rays shining in through the large windows, and the high ceiling showing the gentle purples and pinks of dusk. The place was large, and even with the surrounding proud grey stone walls of Hogwarts, it was not confining. The heavy double-doors of carved oak stood open at the time, yet with tiny cracks here and there to show the passage of time and the destructive nature of adolescents, it still was tall and magnificent, wide enough for ten to walk abreast through it without difficulty. It had stood since time immemorial, guarding against attacks from outside and protecting those within. And, though it may seem absurd, many students swore that as the double-doors welcomed them back into the castle, a sense of security settled over them.

As the Great Hall gradually filled up with the bustle of students and the noise level rose to almost deafening, Headmaster Professor Albus Dumbledore rose from his seat at the front table. Instantaneously, the noise in the Hall fell away to a small buzz, save for a sudden sharp yell of "Hey! Give me back my lucky boxers you ninny!" and a few shushing noises before the culprit finally became aware of the Headmaster.

"Oh hello Professor!" the cheery voice of Sirius Black called out!" Sorry, didn't see you there!"

Dumbledore eyes twinkled merrily as he smiled at the Gryffindor seventh-year, before he turned to his attention to the students.

"No harm done Mister Black. As I was going to say before the oh-so well timed intrusion, welcome back to another year at Hogwarts! I trust whatever our excellent teachers have thought you the past year is still sitting neatly in your brain, ready to be dusted off and used again? A few announcements to make before the start of term feast. New students, as well as some of our old students, -_his eyes flitted towards the Marauders who were grinning at him_- should do well to remember that the Forbidden Forest is still Forbidden and out-of-bounds to any students looking for adventures. I can assure you that the Hogwarts corridors are already filled with adventure. And, secondly, Mister Filch, our caretaker, has kindly reminded me to inform you that prank-pulling will especially no be tolerated by him this year. In fact, his exact words were, 'Professor, if that damned Potter and his damned friends pull another fast one on me again, they'll have it coming for them', " he said all this with amusing eyes.

Students all round were laughing in amusement at Dumbledore's choice of words.

"And, first year students, your dear Deputy Headmistress reminds you not to go anywhere near these four students, as according to her, they are armed and highly dangerous. So, Misters Potter, Black, Lupin and Wormtail, please stand up and show yourselves to our first years." he chortled as he directed his gaze over to the Gryffindor table.

As one, the Marauders stood up and bowed, huge grins plastered on their faces.

"Thank you Professors! I always knew you adored us!" Sirius said and flashed a charming smile in the direction of the teachers bench. McGonagall's lips thinned but one could not help thinking that she was trying to hold back a smile.

All around, there were collective sighs and squeals from the female population, as girls squealed adoringly at the Marauders.

"_Jamesie-poo__!! Loo-_"

"_-ok over here Siri darl-"_

"_-ing Remmy, I've miss-_"

"_ed you so much Petey dear!_"

And the first tears, who had just been warned to not go near the Marauders, all looked up at them with admiration shining in their eyes, the guys thinking 'if I could only be like them' while there girls were inwardly sighing with adoration.

"Thank you people, we love you too," James announced.

"So, we would like to show our affection for you by our usual start-of-year prank!" Remus cut in.

"Oh, bloody hell. Why can't we have peace and quiet for just one year, It's been like that ever since these four reached second year and found that nothing much was happening around school. Well, at least they didn't pull one in their first year," McGonagall moaned as she put her head in her hands.

"There, there, Minerva. You know it's not that bad... Why, I was almost certain that you enjoyed it immensely yourself! And, they did pull a start- of-year prank in first year. Remember the dancing roast boars charging down the Slytherins?" He said cheerfully.

"And without further ado," Peter yelled out.

"We present to you," they said together, every face plastered with an identical grin. "Marauders Marauding Madness Version 7.0, 'Slytherins take a hike'!!" They bellowed and simultaneously yelled - "BOOTIUS ARSIEUS!!" (roughly translated from the unknown language that was, it means Boot their arses!)

And what a great sight that was, when all two hundred and twenty seven Slytherin pupils from second year up was kicked out of their seats by a hot pink rubber boot that had magically appeared below every Slytherin's bottom. They went flying through the air and were deposited at the entrance of the Great Hall.

"TAKE A HIKE!" They yelled and slapped each other high-fives before sitting back down in their seats.

The whole hall burst into appreciative cat-calls and wolf-whistles, as the Slytherins, nursing their bruised egos, returned to their seats and shot the Marauders some extremely filthy looks.

"Now! That's quite enough thank you very much," McGonagall said, lips tight and nostrils flaring. "I trust that you will be able to do equally well in class this year, considering your competence at magical spells? Now, there's two detentions a week for each of you!" She hollered even though the ends of her mouth were turned slightly up.

"Truly entertaining," Dumbledore said as he stood up again, comically wiping tears from his eyes, and using a very large violently purple handkerchief, a blew his nose into it, promptly causing the handkerchief to exclaim in a very rude tone, "Hey! Take your snot elsewhere! Do you think it's a great job, having people blow mucus into you all the time, huh? HUH? DO YOU?? Why-" The noise was cut off as Dumbledore calmly folded and made the handkerchief disappear back up his folds of robes. "Oh, deary me. It does seem that my handkerchief is in a foul temper today. And, lastly, we have our new Head Students. James Potter as Head Boy, while Lily Evans as Head Girl. Due to unfortunate circumstances, Miss Evans can't join us at the opening feast today. As you all already know Mister Potter, I see no more reason to hold everyone back from a scrumptious dinner. As the saying goes, _food waits for no one_! DIG IN."

He waved his hands and the plates were suddenly piled down with all kinds of food, the wide wooden tables creaking under all the weight. The double-doors creaked shut, letting the students eat in peace.

And, as Dumbledore sat, he could be heard saying privately, though in a very, _very _loud voice, "now, now, Argus, there's no reason to attack the roast boars, I'm rather sure that there's enough to go around..."

Laughter ensued and died down and once more, friendly chatter soon rose again as friends sought each other out to ask about the summer and start on their dinners.

"Who's Lily Evans?" Sirius asked James as he helped himself to a large portion of the spaghetti in front of him.

"Have no idea Padfoot, haven't heard of her," James answered.

Peter glanced over and grinned. "Truly a day to remember. I thought you had the girls in this school memorised to the last small detail. And you don't even know who the Head Girl is..."

James shrugged. "Hey, I'll find out with time. The Heads have their own rooms, which are incidentally next to each other."

As the four best friends continued to talk about the many irrelevant things that made life fun, they glanced around at them, looking at their schoolmates, from the happily boisterous Gryffindors, already energetic and starting to cause trouble, to the quieter intelligence of the Ravenclaws, the unbelievable cheerfulness of the Hufflepuffs, always offering words to anyone, and then to the bored indifference of the Slytherins. Outside the windows, the sky had darkened and the towering silhouettes of other stone structures rose up around them. Over the years, they had come, and placed their mark on the school, a legacy of their own. The walls, the tables, nearly everything here had been marked by them in one way or another, and even though magic had taken care of all but the worst traces (_the Slytherin table still flashed purple once in a while_) it was the memories that counted, that they would remember many years down the road. This was where they had learnt life's many and never-ending lessons, gone through its ups and downs and forged the strong flames of friendship and, through it all, had grown up together.

_Yes, they truly were home now_.

**_-----_**

Lily had made her way up to the Hospital Wing, painfully ignoring the sounds of happy chattering and the tempting smells of food that wafted from the Great Hall. Dumbledore had requested for assistance in the Hospital Wing, which was why Lily was currently far from where she was supposed to be. Sure, it was a _request_, but when Dumbledore requested for something to be done, done it was.

"Oh, good child, you're here at last. I'm sorry for dragging you out of the feast, but we need someone to restock the potions and evidently, Dumbledore thought you were best for the job," Madam Pomfrey, the matron of the Wing came bustling over. She always seemed to bustle, and though she was a woman of no remarkable appearance, her skill with healing and warm motherly smile made everyone feel better when they were down.

Lily and Pomfrey set to work transporting potions from the dungeon and into the various cabinets, with Madam Pomfrey remarking once in a while "careful now dear. That's Concentrated Essence of Mandrake… We wouldn't want a wart breakout now, would we?" Or something like "ahhh... Goat's milk and needle-point leaves work miracles for hiccups."

By the end of the two hours, Lily had gained an extensive knowledge about most of the potions and concoctions the Hogwarts medi-witch used as well as several other frequently used spells, all of which she stored carefully away into her memory.

Truth to be told, Lily was surprised that she had actually rather enjoyed helping out in the Hospital Wing, and she rather enjoyed the cheerful chatter of the medi-witch.

"And that's the last of it," Pomfrey said as they stored away the Forksroot tea. "Thanks for your help Lily... Professor Dumbledore asked me to send you directly to your room now. There'll not be a briefing tonight. The Head Girl's Room is two corridors down turn right. The Head Boy's is two corridors down turn left, so if you need anything, go find him. You can't miss it. Your portrait is bordered with pink and blue and has a picture of a dozen fairies sitting around a mushroom ring. The passwords 'Twinkle Toes'. Be sure not to go into the wrong room, dear, boys nowadays, you never know what condition you'll find them in when you enter unexpectedly," she shared an amused glance with Lily, and Lily stifled her laughter.

"Oh, and since you missed the feast, here's a little something so you won't get funny cravings and sneak off into the night. Heaven help me if another one of those Marauders lands in here because they fall into some trap Peeves laid out for unsuspecting students sneaking off to the kitchens." Pomfrey gave her a small foil package and sent her on her way.

"Thank you Madam Pomfrey, I'd best be off now..." Lily said and smiled at the nurse before walking out of the Hospital Wing.

'_What a sweet girl_,' Pomfrey thought to herself as she looked at the red-head's retreating figure. _'Strange I've never seen her around before..._'

**_-----_**

James yawned loudly as he finished the last serving of the chocolate fudge and caramel on the table, and the plates returned to their original sparkling state.

"Hey Prongs! What did you do that for?" Yelped an angry Sirius. "You could have left some for me, some friend you are... I wasn't done there."

"You're never done Padfoot," Remus said with a laugh.

They listened with half an ear as Dumbledore closed the feast and asked for Prefects to lead the way to the dormitories, three of them more intent on flicking their poor friend with small pieces of after-dinner chocolates while Sirius tried in vain to fend off the attacks.

They trudged up the stairs slowly, with James yelling "First years, first years.. This way. NO! NOT _THAT_ WAY! _THIS WAY_! YOU BRAT, YOU- NO IT'S THIS WAY! **_FOLLOW BEHIND ME BEFORE I HEX YOU INTO THE NEXT CENTURY_**. YOU- YES, THE DUDE WITH THE MOSSY SWEATER, DON'T GO THERE, YOU WOULDN'T WANT THE CLOSET MONSTER TO EAT YOU! AND **_STOP_** TOUCHING POOR SIR LANCELOT! YES, I'M SURE HE'S ALREADY QUITE TRAUMATISED TO SEE YOU NINCOMPOOPS. FOLLOW BEHIND ME, AND **_NOT TOO CLOSELY_**!" Sirius and Remus sniggered heartily.

"Easy to see your sense of responsibility Prongs," Remus quipped brightly.

"Yes, it's just so obvious now why Dumbledore picked you as Head Boy eh?" Sirius added with eyes full of mirth as he watched James trying to control the first years. But, they, in their eagerness at their new surroundings, were looking around in awe and very obviously ignoring James Potter.

James groaned. "Were we even that bad in first year?"

Remus grinned. "Well, you see, they aren't half as bad as what we used to be like. Ahhh... I can still remember the look of horror on Sir Lancelot's face when we made Lady Nina from the astronomy Tower flash in front of him."

"They can't hold a candle to us Prongs!" Peter exclaimed airily.

"Though they aren't half bad... Maybe this batch shows promise..." Sirius murmured as they watched an exasperated James haul a First Year back from Peeves's corridor.

"Now, DON'T GO IN THERE! THAT'S PEEVES'S CORRIDOR. It's generally accepted that anyone goes in there won't come out the same person. BOTH literally and metaphorically," James said in a loud voice. "WHAT DID I JUST SAY!" He yelled as he spied a particularly mischievous boy venturing into the said corridor. "YOU COME BACK HERE!" But before James could haul him back, an evil cackle was heard, and a bright blob came shooting out from the darkness, followed swiftly by feathers, hundreds and thousands, blue paint, swirly stickers and spiders.

"Ahhhhhhhhh!" The terrified first year screamed.

"HAH!" James yelled a gleeful shout of laughter. "WHAT DID I JUST SAY!" He crowed triumphantly. "See if that doesn't teach you to follow me. And a tip of the trade: Always walk around with ammunition! _Amateurs_!" Just as he finished, Sirius lobbed a half dozen dungbombs into the corridor and Remus fired off a large burst of black and grey from his wand. There was a brief silence as the first years tensed to see what would happen, before a loud explosion rocked the portraits hanging on the wall and loud curses could be heard. "Filthy, stinking marauders... Eww... Smell... I'm grey! OH WHAT A HORRID COLOUR... I'm grey!"

As they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, James turned to the first years. "Well, this is the Gryffindor Tower. It will be your home for the next seven years, if there are any suggestions for improvement, put them forward to me or the Head Girl. Also, curfew's at ten. Anyone caught out of bounds will be sent for a painful meeting with Filch. ("_Like that's ever stopped you!_" Yelled Sirius.) Yes, yes, funny Padfoot, very funny. Don't do anything I won't do kids." ("_Doesn't say anything much!_" The above-mentioned person said, earning a tackle from James and leaving Remus (the other Gryffindor prefect) to give the password: Slytherin-sub.)" And with that the portrait swung outwards to reveal a vividly red and gold room that gave the feel of welcome and warmth.

"Well... See you," James said awkwardly. He had thought about it before, but it seemed incomprehensible, till now, it was the first night in seven years at Hogwarts that the four were not sleeping in the same dorms.

"Aww, is thy eyes deceiving me, or is ickle Jamesie about to cry?" Sirius exclaimed. "Hey, no worries Prongs, it's not like we've ever set much store for rules! Ah well, we can still prank together huh? And don't forget our little experiment. We can try that tonight."

"Yea, bye guys," James said somewhat sadly and bid his friends goodnight, going up a few more flights of stairs, while the other three Marauders clambered inside the Common Room.

'Dumbledore said it was the portrait with a black and silver border and a snitch in the picture.'

As he reached the portrait hole, he looked up just in time to see the door across the intersection click shut.

'Just missed her then. Heck, I'm dirty and tired and I really want to sleep. And I still have to contact the others. She can wait until next time.'

"Snitch Witch," he mumbled and the portrait door opened.

**_-----_**

Even though the apartment in London where Lily stayed in was far from small, she was impressed with the room in spite of herself.

The floor was paneled with white marble was almost as large as the entire girls dorm she had used for five years Gryffindor. Towards the left, she spied a stairs of stained oak leading upwards, no doubt to an even bigger living space upstairs. The whole place was rather bare, and the instant she walked in, Feathers flew down to perch on her shoulders.

Nailed to the behind of the door, a note read _'Dear Miss Evans, please feel free to furnish your quarters any way you like it. Professor Dumbledore._'

"I guess this is our new home now Feathers," she addressed the snowy owl.

**_-----_**

At the seventh year Gryffindor dorm room, five seventh year girls, Tracy Stevens, and her other roomies, were gathered around her bed.

They were all tall, thin and pretty, and, of course, extremely popular. Unfortunately, they were a little ditzy as well.

"Hey," Tracy suddenly quipped as they were reading 'Teenage Witch', a Hogwarts newsletter they had started themselves, on who's hot and who's not. "Wasn't there another girl who shared this room with us? You know, the one who got up extremely early each morning, and we barely saw her around? Lil- Lillah or Kelly or something?"

Her other friends looked at her blankly. "Umm, I don't quite remember, but what matters is, that we have the whole room to ourselves now. Why bother about someone whose name we don't remember?"

"Oh forget that, Trace," Raine admonished lightly. "We're getting to the good part now. Is Sirius Black or James Potter more hot?"

And the five of them turned back to their own conversation, the dim memory of a red-haired girl that had once stayed in their dorm already fading fast.

**_-----_**

He had already started redecorating his room. The living area was now enchanted so that it was now a grassy area, and hoops had been placed on one side of the area.

'There just wasn't enough space for a full-sized pitch,' James thought ruefully to himself.

Since that had taken up much of the space in the first level, he had not added anything else, except a few portraits of famous Quidditch Players and well-known brooms.

He then enchanted his steps to disappear, and replaced it with a large board a few metres wide and long that was un-obstructively placed in a depression in the floor. And using a advanced hovering charm, turned it into platform that could move between the two floors.

Upstairs, his bed turned into a plush water bed that seemed to have no definite shape and squished all over the place. He emptied his trunk and arranged everything in his extended walk-in closet.

"Dress robes for formal dances, dress robes for informal dances, dress robes for graduation dance. Thomas Parkingson robes for everyday wear, Hogwarts school robes for lessons, muggle clothes for casual wear, muggle clothes for formal wear," he muttered to himself as he sorted through the pile.

"MUM!!! Damn, she repacked my trunk, again! It's always this, this, this, that, that, that. All I'm brought up to do is to attend parties where all the snobby rich people go to. High-society life, such a bloody bother! Thank goodness I packed the other important stuff into the other trunk."

He pulled out a minute trunk and muttered a few words, and the trunk started enlarging.

"Now, there's the real stuff," he said triumphantly and heaved open the lid.

In it were assorted items of all kinds. (Haha, just take it that anytime he looks for something, its in the box. I can't describe everything here.) And he waved his wand so that the items arranged themselves on several large shelves he had created. 'Prank stuff for Slytherins', 'Prank stuff for teachers', "Prank stuff for other occasions', 'Items essential for a Marauder' and 'Assorted', were among the few categories there. He then waved again and his books arranged themselves on the last shelf. James had quite a large number of books, and so did Sirius, which was why they did not go to the library often, and had led many to assume that the Marauders did not read.

After that, he charmed a bar table into place beside the bed, with its own refrigerator and drink shelf that magically refilled with whatever he felt like having. He then placed a huge table in the remaining space and charmed four chairs, which were made of the same squishy substance as the bed, to the table.

'They'll do perfectly well for the chairs.'

Having inspected the bathroom and found it to his expectations, he left that alone and proceeded to dig out a globe about ten centimeters in diameter and placed in onto the table.

**_-----_**

Lily looked around as smiled in satisfaction. A small part of the living area now resembled the Hogwarts school library with its vast collection of books, yet it had a cosy feeling of an old-fashioned tea-shop. The other part of the living area held an open field with a large weeping willow right beside a large window. The rest of the open field was given over to soccer, a Muggle sport. Lily had never told anyone this, but she had a small fetish about soccer, having grown up in England. She was quite skilled in the game, but no one would believe her if she told them. They all thought she looked to demure to be involved in such a sport.

Out of convenience, she charmed her stairs so that it would start moving when someone stepped on it, and demolished the other half of the staircase so that there was a big hole there. She put a cushion charm on the area underneath it so that she could be cushioned when she jumped, but it would not obstruct the area below.

Upstairs, she had replicated her entire bedroom, complete with the gigantic window. Her clothes were charmed into a walk-in closet, and an area was set up for studying. The last bit she did to her bedroom was rather tricky. She set a large bowl about fifty centimeters in diameter, and charmed it so that any food she wanted would appear. It required a complex weaving of summoning charms and transfiguration skills, and had to be redone two times before Lily got it right. (it gave her blue apples the first time)

The bathroom was satisfying. A large hollow was sunk in the middle of the room, with various taps all around it, and jet pipes in the pool.

'A pool, cum jacuzzi? Cool.'

**_-----_**

"Helloo??" James said to the shining globe that was currently black in colour.

"Ummm, Sirius seriously salivates at salamanders," James said, feeling a little dumb. 'That damned Sirius had to choose a contact name like that huh?'

The black fog cleared and the globe became white.

"-_Moony! Shh, wait. I think Prongs is trying to call us_," came Sirius' voice.

James was looking at Sirius feet through the glass.

"_Padfoot__, quiet, we need to find it_," Peter shouted.

"_Well, I'm not the one making the noise_," Sirius' annoyed voice said.

James view of the room suddenly spun rapidly. He got dizzy just trying to look at it.

"_Ouch! I kicked something_," Moony said.

"_Just find that bloody ball_."

"_Is it- Oh wait, there it is_," came Peter's relieved tones. "_I found it_."

And James got a glimpse of the ball being lifted up before it was steadied, and all three Marauders were staring at him through the glass, their faces strangely distorted through the contours of the globe.

"Well, hello Prongs!" Sirius grinned at him. "You look kinda funny. You know, your mouths wider than your face and your eye's gone a squinty. And, there's a space of at least five centimeters between your nose and your lips."

"Speak for yourself Padfoot, you three look weird. We have got to sort out this problem, but at least the image thing is working. Otherwise, everyone will be looking Grendael from Weird Wizards," James said. "Look at my room, it's cool. You could crash here sometimes."

He panned the globe around the room, and even through the weird distortions, Sirius was visibly impressed by it.

"So," Peter said, turning the globe so that it was focused on him. "Did you get to see the new Head Girl? She hot or anything?"

"Nahh," James responded. "I came back immediately to do up my room and talk to you guys. Besides, she's probably not even good-looking. Maybe some goody-two-shoes. Padfoot here has got the names of all the quality gals written down and I don't see Lily Evans on the list."

The view centered on Remus. "Prong-

and then turned to Sirius "-s, do you."

"HEY!" They yelled in unison. "I wasn't done there!"

Peter turned the globe to himself, and rolled his eyes. "Hey, James, we're distributing it tomorrow eh? What's it called?"

"It's the C-globe, short for 'see-all globe', and it's gonna be a big hit tomorrow," James smirked.

Peter laughed. "We'll hope so. Well, see you, eight-thirty at the end of the corridor we parted yesterday. Those two are still bickering, can you believe them?" He laughed again. "Night Prongs."

And the last he saw of the dorm was that Sirius had taken Remus in a headlock while Remus had a hand to Sirius' throat. Then, the globe went black.

**_-----_**

Lily dressed slowly the next morning.

'It's such a relief, I can just eat in my room. No more trips to the Great Hall,' she thought to herself.

She got a plate of fried mini-potatoes and went down to her own library to read for a bit. There was a small tapping on the window. Lily looked up to see a medium sized barn owls, and frowned.

'That's odd, I don't get letters. Apart from Feathers who delivers letters from mum and dad, I never get letters.'

The owl clicked impatiently on the window, and Lily hurried over to open it. It soared in and on to the table, waiting for Lily to come to it.

Lily retrieved the owl's packing, a rather large box and a letter stuck to the top. She opened the letter first.

_**Whoever it may concern.  
**  
In an attempt to link up the whole of Hogwarts, we have devised this incredibly intelligent and absolutely fantastic device, the C-globe. It connects you to whoever you want to, as long as they have a C-globe with them. Comes complete with a users manual, and teaches you who to use the C- globe's many functions, like voice recording, blah blah._

_Price of only ten galleons, this has got to be the most fantastic invention yet. Please send the money back with the owl if you want it, and if you don't send the whole package back._

_**The Marauders.**_

Her curiosity piqued, she opened the box and took out a shining globe of the darkest black.

She shrugged. 'Why not? It's pretty to look at and maybe I can keep it for later.' She dug out ten galleons and put it into a pouch the owl was carrying.

"To activate, please touch the globe, and specify a username," A voice said from the globe. "And, to contact other people, please state their username to the globe. If you want a conversation with other people, just specify the usernames of all the people you wish to talk to."

Lily touched the globe. "Starlight."

"Username programmed."

Lily looked up and yelped. "Oh no, I'm gonna be late, again."

She quickly gathered her books, stumbled out of the portrait and turned right. As she turned the corridor, she ran head-on into someone.

**End of Chapter Two.  
_----------------------------------------------------------_**

_**cube**_


	3. R why he turns left and she turns right

**Turn Right Turn Left.**

**Chapter 3**: Why he turns left and she turns right.

**Disclaimer**: Am not JK Rowling. You get the idea. If I was I would have been earning big bucks by now... This story is also adapted from the Taiwanese movie of the same name.

**Summary**:

This story is about two ill-fated young people, James and Lily, who are destined to be together, but unfortunately their paths never cross. James always turns left, while Lily turns right. Through some strange coincidence, they never meet, even though James is Head Boy while Lily is Head Girl, and have totally no idea who the other party is. They chance upon an encounter in Hogsmeade, and find that they have in fact, met before.

But when they part, they realise they have no means of contacting each other, and set out to find their soul mate.

**Date posted**: 8 October 2003

**Revised**: 29/6/2004

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"YYAhhhh!" The someone she had run into yelled in surprise as he or she fell onto the floor.

Lily herself lost her balance and fell onto the floor, her butt bouncing painfully on the hard stone floor before coming to rest on her book bag.

"Ouchhh..." She rubbed at her back painfully and looked up to see who she had banged into, and emerald eyes met blue and black.

A six foot tall boy was standing over her, staring down at her with an amused expression.

"Gee, I knew I was the ladies man, but hey, that's really no reason for you to run me over..." He said, eyes twinkling in amusement.

Lily's mouth curved upwards in a small smile. The boy offered Lily his hand and she took it, with him heaving her easily of the floor.

He laughed. "You're glad that this is the Head corridor, otherwise my swarms of fan girls will be glaring at you... It's not everyday that you get helped by Hogwarts most eligible bachelor you know..."

Lily laughed softly again. "Thank you... It isn't everyday too that i get to hear a guy like you shriek like a girl,"Lily teased gently

"It wasn't a girlsih shriek!" The boy exclaimed, looking highly affronted. "Sirius Black never shrieks." Then he puffed up his chest. "He only shouts,** _manly_**, _of course_! Are you usually so quiet and polite?" The boy grinned. "The girls I know are really very wild... You're different you know... I haven't exactly seen you around before, or I would remember it. What's your name?"

Lily laughed, her eyes twinkling merrily. "My name's Li-"

"Holy shit!" He yelped suddenly, glancing at the grandfather's clock in the corridor. "I'm kinda running late to meet my friend... See you around." He bowed comically and ran off, his long legs taking him quickly out of sight.

_**-----**_

Sirius laughed at the girls' look of shock on her face, and decided that he already liked her.

Sirius skidded to a stop outside James' portrait. "Snitch Witch" and entered.

"Prongs! You'll never know... I ran into the most gorgeous girl today.. She had this totally lovely pair of -" Sirius started enthusiastically as he found the Marauders gathered in James' bedroom.

"Not now Padfoot," Peter interrupted. "We doing our final test on the Marauders Map..."

Sirius' eyes lit up and he joined in immediately. "Let me see that," he said excitedly, pulling a piece of seemingly normal parchment away from James.

However, at one glance, it was definitely not normal. The parchment was filled with ink lines that extended from one point to another and crisscrossed throughout the whole piece. Miniscule dots were moving around, and each was labeled clearly with a small name.

"Cool..." He breathed.

"Totally," the other three echoed as they stared transfixed at the map.

"Oh, yea, Prongs... Just saw McGonagall a while ago... she says there's a Head meeting with Dumbledore this coming Saturday... She told me to tell you to be there by eight or face the consequences."

A few jaws dropped around the table. "IMPOSSIBLE!" James sputtered. "But that coincides with our first quidditch training of the year!"

Peter shook his head slowly. "It's a downright disaster... Prongs needs to be there... He's the captain..."

Even the usually unruffled Remus was staring at James, a stunned expression on his face.

"Holy shit."

"So, Padfoot, what were you going to tell us just now?" Remus asked as he suddenly remembered his friend's outburst.

But Sirius, having an attention span of a five-year-old kid, and with better things like the Marauders Map and James missing quidditch practice to distract him, had long forgotten about his run-in with the girl.

In transfiguration that day, McGonagall stopped by a solitary Lily.

"Miss Evans, there will be a Heads meeting with the Headmaster this coming Saturday... Please do be punctual. It's at eight," she said before walking away.

James and his friends came to a stop outside the Head Boy portrait.

"I have no idea why you would want to take the long way up here!" Sirius groaned as he leaned against the wall.

James shrugged. "Deal with it Padfoot. It's a habit I have had since two years ago."

Sirius sniggered. "Yea," he said wistfully, as he stared at James. "I remember that."

**_--_**Flashback _**--**_

_As summers were in central England, it was a dreary afternoon. The clouds thundered angrily as grey clouds drifted over the city, and almost immediately, rain poured down in a seemingly endless flood. Umbrellas sprouted up like mushrooms, and in the boorish, uncreative Muggle world, more often were they black than not._

_James mentally cursed himself for postponing the oh-so-important apparition test that would mean no more walking in rains like this. He contemplated for a moment for forming a shield around him, but came to a conclusion that even Muggles were not so blind as to let a clear bubble of non-rainy air walk past without even noticing it. Hence, it was the umbrella. In the midst of the dreary grey skies and the boring black umbrella, up went a vividly red and gold one, with a Gryffindor crest emblazoned on it. It was as large as the sort of umbrellas that Muggle coffee places like Starbucks used, and he was fast attracting glances from the people around him._

_Unnoticed to James who was caught among a seas of black umbrellas and stern-faced Muggles, another violently red and gold umbrella also with the Gryffindor crest had gone up, and people now turned to stare between the two teenagers, one with ruffled black hair and another with warm fiery red hair, both of whom looked up at the sky with dampened spirits._

_As the light turned green for pedestrians to cross the road, the crowd of people moved forwards purposefully, and he was caught along in the drift. The two red and gold umbrellas spilt up at the intersection, one heading east, the other, north._

_"Hey," a girl cried out as she crossed the road along with him an ran under the cover of his umbrella. "Would you mind just sheltering me to my car?" She asked and flashed a dimply smile at him, before grabbing his hand and dragging him to where her car was parked a few hundred metres away._

_"Do you want a lift back?" She asked._

_"Err... It might not be convenient for you," he replied._

_She laughed. "How big is London anyway? Everything is on the way. Come on!" And she dragged him into the car without waiting for his response._

_"So, where do you live anyway?"_

_"Err, somewhere around the corner," he replied awkwardly._

_They drove for a while in silence._

_"You can stop me here!" James yelled as he spotted the large mansion that marked the turnoff into the wizarding community._

_The car screeched to a halt on the curb._

_"So, I'll go up with you?" The girl suggested, placing a hand on James' shoulder._

_James yelled and jumped out of the car, speeding around the corner and out of sight._

_"Oh, hey, Prongs, where were you? You were supposed to be back hours ago," Sirius said as James came barreling into the back alley and as he was walking out._

_"Padfoot! Get in!" James yelled, gesturing towards the large mansion._

_Sirius shot him a quizzical look and peered over James' shoulder to look around the corner of the building. The girl had just run around the other side of the building and was peering curiously down both sides of the street._

_"Don't let me catch you the next time," she raised her voice and so that it echoed into the alleyway. "Or I'll make sure you're mine!" And she got into her car and sped off._

_Sirius withdrew his head, and looked at James with a raised eyebrow, his face threatening to split into a huge grin._

_"Rabid fangirl?" He asked, the corners of his mouth turning upwards._

_James shook his head miserably. "Just... Don't ask."_

_Letting out a great big yell of laughter, Sirius patted an annoyed looking James on the back, and the two disappeared into the mansion, the gateway to the wizarding community._

_The very next day, as the James and Sirius left the mansion and stepped out onto the Muggle streets of London discussing what they could do that day, James rounded the corner, and very suddenly, stopped short, causing Sirius to walk into him all the while discussing the advantages of Diagon Alley over Hogsmeade._

_"Oei!" Sirius exclaimed in irritation._

_And as Sirius peered past James and the corner of the building for the second time in as many days, a smile grew on his face, threatening to turn into a grin and as only Sirius could do, it would soon turn into a rather embarrassing situation for James._

_"Ohh..."Sirius exclaimed in an irritating sing-song voice that James hated, and he proceeded to call the girl, "Mmphfyhg," James had clamped a hand down onto his mouth and dragged him away in the opposite direction – the left of the alleyway._

_**--**_End Flashback_**--**_

"YES, I REMEMBER THAT TOO," James hissed in irritation at his best friend. "So now you know why we ALWAYS turn LEFT!"

Sirius sniggered as James gave the password -_Quidditch King_- and they entered his room.

"Awwww, c'mon Prongs, please-please-PLEASE let us stay here? It's superb!" Sirius whined as he looked at James.

James shook his head with amused eyes. "No Padfoot, I'm afraid Dumbledore told us not to."

Seeing that he wasn't about to win the argument any time soon, Sirius quickly changed his attitude.

"Fine..." He said, snobbishly putting his nose up in the air and causing Remus and James to choke on their laughter. "Be that way, see if I care... This room isn't exactly... fabulous anyway _- James: That wasn't exactly what you were saying a few seconds ago - _... And there's much more activity in the Gryffindor dorms."

The night sky was clear, far up in the secluded Scottish highlands, there was no Muggle pollution to obscure the spectacular view of the skies above, and stars twinkled merrily, bathing the ground in a warm gentle glow. It was slightly warm as only summer nights could be, yet gentle gusts of wind blew continuously from the Great Lake, a sign that fall was fast upon them. The Forbidden Forest, which throughout summer had been a painting of different vivid greens were now tinged slightly with greenish-yellows and lighter browns. An owl hooted, followed closely by others echoing its call. It was night, and all was silent at the castle that was Hogwarts.

A dark statue rose above the tallest tower, a black majestic dragon watching over the slumbering castle and its students.

_**-----**_

But not everyone was happily in the Land of Nod. High above the sweeping grounds of Hogwarts, a certain Lily Evans sat atop one of the shorter towers, perched comfortably on a wide stone ledge in front of a glass window that threw light into the surrounding night. She glanced up at the skies getting lost in the openness of the dark sky and the mysteries of the stars.

"Hi Grandmama, I haven't exactly talked to you for quite a while... It's been really hectic this year... Preparing for NEWTS..." Lily spoke to the skies, smiling upwards, certain that her grandmother could hear her speak. "I met this really good-looking guy today." She laughed softly, remembering her encounter. "But he isn't really what I was looking for... I just didn't feel that spark I thought I would feel. Maybe he's not meant for me?"

Up above, the stars seemingly twinkled brighter and stronger for a heartbeat, then, it was gone so quickly that Lily almost missed it.

"That's okay then. I wouldn't want to end up with the wrong person... I would wait... even though it takes me a lifetime... I just know that somewhere out there, someone is waiting."

"I guess I should go back in... Please look after everyone for me? Even Petunia. I'm sure... that she likes me... deep down, I suppose." With a small kinda-sad smile, Lily hopped carefully down from the sill and back into the warmth of her room.

It was finally Saturday. After two months of summer fun and lazing around with nothing to do, school had seemed much harder for all the students and after a week back, all were glad that they finally had the weekends for a brief respite from schoolwork. All around, there were students enjoying the company of their friends, pelting each other with water from the Lake, or just strolling along around the grounds. Far off, the sounds of excited shouts and low humming told of a Quidditch match being played.

Lily strolled slowly down the corridor, taking in the small details of the stone walls.

**_--_**Flashback**_--_**

Ten-year-old Lily Evans walked down a darkened street in Muggle London, her nose buried in a book: _'Tales of Otherworlds'_. (And like typical horror stories...)

_It was a dark and dreary night. The rain pelted downwards in large droplets, hitting the ground with a resounding 'thud thud'. Ever so often, the wind would shriek through the empty tree branches in Central Plaza, screaming their fury at the deserted street. Lamplights flickered on and off... _

_As young Kim walked home from her piano lessons at ten o'clock that night, she wondered again why she had been so stupid to turn down her friends' offer to have her mother drive her home. As such, she was left with a leaky umbrella, and was making tough work in pushing against the blowing of the strong winds. Raindrops whipped past her face, already, she was soaking wet. _

Lily felt a chill creep slowly up her neck. She looked furtively around her as she walked across Central Plaza, her currect location bearing an uncanny resemblance to that of the story. Her pace quickened. It was a dark and dreary night, and the wind was kicking up a big storm of swirling leaves and swaying trees.

_Was it her imagination, Kim wondered, or did it seem as though the shadows had lengthened considerably. She glanced at her watch, and was shocked to find that her clock read 11.55. Had time really passed that quickly? She quickened her steps, remembering her grandmother's words: When the clock strikes twelve, the Gates open and otherworldly creatures come once more into our realm. 11.57. Her home was only two blocks away. Had she heard footfalls behind her? 11.59. One more block. Yes, it wasn't her imagination. There was really someone behind her now. The Central Plaza clock struck twelve, and tolling sounded ominously through the empty street. The howling winds shrieked, growing even more wild. Out of the corner of her eyes, she caught sight of a cloaked figure with pale white skin... Kim... Kim... I'm coming to get you...  
_  
Lily turned left, taking the shortest possible route home bgut looked up suddenly, her hands clutched tightly on her book, looking around fearfully. There seemed to be howling... There it was... 'Lily... Lily...'

She looked up, eyes wide. Just ahead, a tree swayed. Lily heaved a sigh of relief. _It was just a tree_.

The tree suddenly took shape, gnarled branches twisting horribly to form mutated limbs, trunk elongating to form a body, and white ghostly shapes drifted from above...

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" A shrill scream pierced the air as Lily did an about turn and ran right all the way home and buried herself under tons of blankets.

_**--**_End Flashback_**--**_

"And from then on, I just naturally took the right... Of course, me coming to Hogwarts and meeting all those ghosts did nothing to alleviate my fear." Lily mused to herself as her thoughts wandered off.

_**-----**_

At the same time, James Potter was running to Dumbledore's office in the other direction.

"Mister Potter," Dumbledore motioned for James to sit. "First things first. Our largest event this year is probably going to be your graduation, but we need something for the other students to look forward to, and I might suggest something along the lines of a dance, but let it be a disguised on, so that no one knows who they are with. As such, emphasis has to be placed so that the students do not rig up themselves to go with whoever they want, and nobody is allowed to have a date to bring to the ball. We feel that this will go greatly to improve student relations at Hogwarts, and please, no violence is allowed on that night."

James nodded distractedly, and looked wistfully of Dumbledore's large window to the Quidditch pitch outside where his team mates were already zooming around on their brooms.

"Yea, professor, anything else?" James asked, quickly reverting his attention back to Dumbledore.

"Of course, it'll be up to you and the Head Girl to plan this dance, but this will be a dance that breaks all traditions. We want something new. So the usual Head students first dance will be abolished... Oh, and we will leave you two in charge of this dance... the decorations, food, everything."

"Oh, ok... Hmm, professor, I don't suppose you would mind terribly if I go for quidditch practice now... I promise I'll get everything done!" James said frantically, the pull of quidditch too great to resist.

"Fine, Mister Potter, but are you sure you don't want to wait for the Miss Evans to come?"

"Errr... Not really. Thanks Prof!" James cried over his shoulder, already halfway down the revolving stairs.

**_-----_**

At that moment, Lily stepped on the other set of stairs leading upwards, and was humming softly to herself. It would be her first meeting of the year, and she was wondering who the Head Boy could be.

"Professor, sorry I'm late," she said politely.

"Ahh, that's fine Miss Evans, but I'm afraid you've just missed Mister Potter. Do have a seat please." He pointed to the seat James had recently left.

Lily took it quickly and arranged her robes neatly. "Thank you."

"Now, Miss Evans, you do know that since this year will be your final year, there will be a graduation ceremony and dance organised for the seventh years. However, since this is exclusive to only the seventh year students, we have plans to hold a dance for fourth years and up to add a little festive cheer during your christmas season. It will be held on the last day of the term, and students are given a whole week before that the shop for the costumes. And yes, attendance is compulsory," Dumbledore said, surveying Lily with twinkling eyes.

"Of course Professor... Everyone will be attending... But, what do we have to do?" Lily asked politely.

"Oh, organise it of course!" Dumbledore replied airily. "You have the freedom to choose the music, food, and so on... But the only rule is that everyone must be in a disguise and no one know who each other is... Oh, and of course! No dates for the dance!" He ended cheerily. "That will be all Miss Evans, have a nice day. Mint toffee?"

Lily politely declined with a small smile. "Thank you Professor, have a nice day too..."

**_-----_**

Time rushed by, and so did autumn, the leaves turning from green to vivid hues of red and yellow, the large maples dotting the ground became a sight to see and attracted many couples hoping for some quiet time together. Time rushed by in a haze of Hogsmeade weekends, where students could be seen milling around the little wizarding town, taking full advantage of the warm and cozy environment of the _Three Broomsticks_ to have fun or just walking along the streets to catch the cool autumn breeze. For others, the chill in the air allowed for an energizing game of quidditch for a perfect pick-me-up from the boring stupor of attending classes. It was not to say that Hogwarts lessons were dull. Oh, far from it. It was rather interesting to see the teachers varying reactions at the 'laziness' of their students, especially when, as McGonagall put it '_the NEWTS and OWLs are barely months away and all you incompetent nincompoops would do well to study harder_' after Sirius had succeeded transfigured her classroom into a bar. It was rather funny to see a dozen or so dancers suddenly appearing in the classroom, and McGonagall chasing them out after lecturing them on finding uses to pass their time. Oh... and not to mention Lucius Malfoy actually _nosebleeding_ in class while leering at them... _Who knew what went on his that head of his_...

As the last traces of autumn faded away into winter, the once colourful splashes of reds and yellows and oranges had given way, and all that was left of the maple trees were gnarled bare branches, slowly waiting till spring came again. A chilly wind began blowing almost continuously for the past few days, and the students had already seen the first snow fall of the season, just a light smattering of snowflakes that melted before even reaching the ground. Still, winter only came once a year and students were already rejoicing at the thoughts of the Christmas holidays and the hot, heavy stews that were sure to keep the castle warm and cozy.

Throughout the next few weeks, Lily and James either had things to do when the other was free, or just couldn't be found. As such, the planning of the dance was complicated, with messages being sent to and fro by owls. Lily had been uncomfortable about using the C-globe (ahhh! Don't ask me why! It's just so they won't see each other's face before they have to!) and when she explained this to James, he politely accepted. So, after the whirlwind posts, the layout of the dance was more or less fixed.

And, as luck would have it, Remus had decided to fall 'ill' at the time when Lily and James had decided to decorate the Great Hall together.

_Lily Evans, _

Am truly sorry, but I will be unable to decorate the hall with you tomorrow night... My friend's mother has suddenly taken ill...

James Potter.

So that night, Lily took to decorating part of the Hall, while James would do the others when he came back. She worked hard through the night, putting up decorations and taking them down, adjusting it until she felt satisfied, and only stopped when Peeves had come to wrap red streamers around her at three in the morning.

The week before the dance, lessons were called of, and since the Great Hall was out-of-bounds due to the need to get decorations up, the students had the choice to eat in Hogsmeade or in the kitchens.

As the week passed, hype began to build up around the school, with people guessing what it would be like. The weather moved into the cold winter, and snow fell constantly on the grounds and snow pixies - lovely sparkling minute winged elfin creatures, just recently awoken from the year-long slumber, came out to light up the nights with their flying. Girls were constantly seen in the corridor in groups, trying to guess what the coolest guys were going to wear, and frantically discussing dresses in between endless shopping trips, while guys walked around nonchalantly, trying to remember the small details of the girls they wanted to dance with, so they could match it to their partners during the dance.

The day dawned, still cloudy and snowing as activity around the castle reached an ultimate high. Although the actual party started at seven, where dinner was served and then the dancing, lasting all the way till one the next morning, many girls were seen at eight in the morning getting ready.

Lily stretched lazily in bed, taking the opportunity to sleep in. She had not done any shopping that week, having already dug up an old dress from her chest which her mother had bought before she had left for Hogwarts. Close to one, she finally got up, and shuffled lazily over to her private library to get some reading done.

**_-----_**

James and the Marauders were in James room, still dressed in their boxers only. They had decided to crash there the past night, ignoring Dumbledore's rules.

"Lets - _yawn_ - play - _yawn_ - quidditch." James said, eyes drooping tiredly and hair even more mussed up than possible.

The rest brightened considerably, and they each grabbed a broom from James' collection and started to head downstairs.

"_Outside..._" He finished, staring at his friends.

Sirius mustered the extent of facial muscles that was awake and made a gaping face. "But, you've got to be kidding... It's bloody minus 10 degrees outside!"

James smiled and evil smile, looking more awake than ever, "nothing like a spot of quidditch in the cold to wake you up effectively. Dress warm boys... And let's have breakfast."

They gathered around his bar, and after a hearty breakfast of eggs, toast, muffins, waffles, sausages, and everything a typical growing English guy eats, they donned jeans, a shirt and a sweater and zoomed out into the early morning frost.

At six in the evening, they trooped in wearily, dripping cold water all over the floor, and jumped right into the jacuzzi.

"Ahhh," James moaned as he felt the hot water seep through to his bones, sucking away all last traces of coldness in him. This certainly is the life."

Sirius nodded in agreement, his eyes closed. "I thought I was going to be a frozen dog forever..."

_**----**_

Close to seven, a girl barely recognizable as Lily Evans stepped out of the Head Girl's dorms and turned right down the corridor. She had exotic very dark purple hair, and blue-green eyes, and her hair was piled messily onto her head, with a few strands running down the sides of her face, and a few loose ends trailing down her back. Her attire was elegant yet breath- taking, not like the bulky ball-room dresses some girls had chosen. She wore a white dress, one shoulder off and the other with sleeves that flared out towards the end. The middle of the dress was secured loosely by a thin silver cord and the dress ended in layers of floaty material and cut unevenly just above her knee. The whole thing was embroidered with silver and black symbols, and three inch platforms.

'Tonight... let's stand out just for tonight Grandmama...' She laughed softly as she thought to herself. 'No one knows it's me anyway.'

**_-----_**

The Marauders stepped out of James' room, sauntering down the corridor.

James now had longer brown hair, slicked back with magic, (ekkk! don't like gel!. No gel!) and sparkling blue eyes. Sirius, black hair and brown eyes, Remus' hair was black and the ends were streaked with gold and brown eyes, and Peter also had brown hair and brown eyes. (there's only so much different you can make a guy... I can't imagine a guy in Lily's red hair and green eyes. hehe: Fred/ George) But neither looked like their original selves, even though the good- looks and charm was still there. It was amazing what a little magic could do here and there. All were dressed stylishly in Kilsh's black dress robes.

As they joined the main corridor, the looks intensified, and everyone stole a glance their way... Of course, guys had tried their best to look as good as possible, some even choosing to go for all out non-permanent magic plastic surgery, but the charisma that radiated from them could not be matched.

**_-----_**

Lily walked down the corridor slowly. She had never sat through a school function as big as this, as was naturally nervous. Each corridor she turned, guys turned to look at her while girls whispered behind her back.

As she stopped right in front of the doors to the Great Hall along with they many people already waiting for entry to the Hall, she thought to herself. 'Maybe he's here, waiting for me.'

**End of Chapter Three.  
**----------------------------------------------------------

**cube**


	4. R friendships and relationships

**Turn Right Turn Left.**

**Chapter 4**: Friendships and relationships.

**Disclaimer**: Am not JK Rowling. You get the idea. If I was I would have been earning big bucks by now... This story is also adapted from the Taiwanese movie of the same name.

**Summary**:

This story is about two ill-fated young people, James and Lily, who are destined to be together, but unfortunately their paths never cross. James always turns left, while Lily turns right. Through some strange coincidence, they never meet, even though James is Head Boy while Lily is Head Girl, and have totally no idea who the other party is. They chance upon an encounter in Hogsmeade, and find that they have in fact, met before.

But when they part, they realise they have no means of contacting each other, and set out to find their soul mate.

**Date posted**: 12 October 2003

**Revised**: 8/8/2004

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The people hushed as Dumbledore stepped to the front of the crowd and put his hands up for silence.

"Students... tonight, let your hair down, well, most of you already have your hair down... but, do still try to enjoy yourselves as much as possible. The dance ends at one... Have fun!" He said in a magically magnified voice and spread his hands wide.

Behind him, the large carved doors to the Great Hall swung open, revealing all that was inside.

The students started cheering as they moved quickly into the Great Hall.

Lily was pushed along with the large crowd, and she finally entered the Great Hall. A single gasp of breath escaped her throat. It was beautiful.

'Evidently James Potter did his job...' Lily thought to herself as she looked up in awe at the other decorations.

In line with the winter season, the Great Hall, as they both had agreed was to be decorated to suit the season. Clear crystal icicles hung from the ceiling and small flecks of snow drifted slowly downwards, being charmed to melt before reaching the floor. The walls were elegantly draped with dark blue, black and silver cloth, and a smattering of silver sparkles on the dark surfaces made it seem as though they were floating in the deep universe. Masses of tiny snow pixies fluttered everywhere, creating an enchanting effect within the Hall. The ceiling currently showed a clear midnight blue sky dazzling with thousands of stars. The Hall had been thrown into darkness, but starlight shone in through the large windows, reflecting off icicles. The dance floor had been magically charmed to look like an ice-skating rink but it was not a single bit slippery, while to the sides, hundreds of small tables cluttered the empty spaces. The tables were round, perfect for two people each, and had a glass surface supported by nothing. It held a single crystal vase that was tinted purple and a single rose in it. Above each of the hundreds of little tables floated a single glowing white sphere that illuminated a small area around the table. The chairs were of a squishy material (think James' room).

To one corner, there was a massive circular bar-table that could seat dozens, somewhere that would allow people to mingle with others without intruding in the privacy of those who did not want to be disturbed.

Lily started across the dance floor as the live band, some wizarding band called the 'Magicals' struck up a slow song. She politely changed course a few times to avoid intruding in on the few couples that had already stepped onto the dance floor, and made her way to the bar.

"Can I have a 'phoenix' please?" She asked the bartender politely. "And a plate of salmon in spicy lemon sauce... Thank you."

It took the waiter just five minutes to assemble Lily's dinner in front of her. Her drink was slightly pink, slightly blue, and was made of a mixture of blueberries, raspberries, pink guava and a little firewhisky.

Lily picked up her knife and fork, and was just about to dig into her meal when she felt someone sit down beside her.

"Hey," that someone said.

Lily looked up and saw a guy with black hair and brown eyes. (Sirius, I gave him black hair and brown eyes for the dance.)

"Hi," Lily replied with a smile.

"I was watching you from over there," the mystery man said, gesturing towards the other side of the bar where three other guys were seated. "Is it just me, or do you seem familiar?"

"We've probably seen each other somewhere before," Lily replied.

The boy laughed merrily. "Yes, I suppose that's it huh?" But still he looked at her with a considering look in his eyes.

Just then, three other guys came up to them. One of them, a guy with brown hair and blue eyes (James) slapped the first guy on the back.

"Padfoot! We leave you for a while and here you are already trying to bait some poor young girl?" He grinned and slapped 'Padfoot' on the back.

"Well, let's hope he's doing better this time around," someone with black hair and gold highlights said dryly. "I so remember that time that he went up to that Muggle girl and went 'Is it just me, or do the stars dim in comparison with your beauty?' Well, that was certainly funny when she slapped him."

Padfoot pouted. "Moony! That cut me deep, that cut me real deep. Ahh, I was young, and innocent, and as I recall, I was under the influence of firewhisky as a certain –_cough_- someone spiked my drink!"

'Padfoot' turned back to studying her. "Now who can you be...?" He wondered, a finger to his lips.

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Are you Tracy?" Lily shook her head. "No? Oh well, I guessed as much. She would probably already be out on the dance floor by now... Then... Marie?" Lily shook her head again. "No? Ok, Desaine?" Shake. "Hillary?" Shake. "Grace?" Shake. "No? Bella?" Shake. "NO?! There can't be anymore girls that are good-looking... Unless," he looked suspiciously at her, "you went for magical plastic surgery?"

Lily laughed in amusement, as she watched him, eyes shining brightly. "No..."

The boy heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness! I would hate the thought that someone as beautiful as you are actually ugly in real life."

The boy to her right then spoke up. He had brown hair and blue eyes.

He leaned to speak to her, his eyes sparkling in the light. "Don't mind Tom. He's usually like this."

"Tom?" Lily asked as she laughed softly. "Aren't we not supposed to tell others our names?"

"Nahh, that's not his real name... It's a false name... And meet Dick over here," he said, gesturing to another guy with brown hair and brown eyes. (Peter.)

At this Lily started laughing, her usual reserved self forgotten. "You read muggle jokes?"

The boy nodded, eyes mischievous.

"So where's Harry?"

"Nahh, there's no Harry, only Tom and Dick." He slapped his other friend on the back. "He's too nice to be called names... Now these other two..." He leaned in close to Lily to whisper conspiratorially with her. "These two are downright evil, they are..."

Lily laughed again. She looked up and saw 'Tom' looking highly affronted. "Now, what did dear old Prongsie here tell you?" (In this fic, their nicknames is secretly theirs, so they can use it.)

Lily didn't have a chance to reply as Professor Dumbledore stood up. "Students, if you please, those who are eating, hurry and finish up. Those who are dancing, this is your last song. Assemble on the dance floor please, Hogwarts is trying something new today!"

As quickly as possible, Lily tried to eat her dinner as politely as she could manage and walked slowly to the dance floor, the other four guys walking behind her.

"Okay, on the count of three, Magicals will start up a song. Everytime their lead singer yells 'change', change your partner and waltz to the right! Guys on the outer ring, girls on the inner. Everyone ready? Let's go Hogwarts," Dumbledore announced cheerily and joined in with the circle of students. "Teachers in as well!" He shouted merrily, pulling McGonagall and White (the DADA teacher) into the circle with him.

Lily chuckled softly to herself as she spotted the look on her Professor's face through the thronging mass of students. McGonagall's lips were the thinnest she had ever seen them, and she looked as though she was ready to swing Dumbledore to the moon.

"Ready? And go!"

The Magicals struck up a fast-paced jaunty song and Lily found herself being pushed into the circle, in line with the girls. Her first dance partner was the guy called 'Tom'.

"Hey you," he said, twirling her frantically around in beat with the music. "Looks like we keep meeting! Well, see you soon," he said as the lead singer yelled 'CHANGE!' and he passed her on to her right while he himself turned to the right. (so they are going to opposite directions.)

After that, Lily danced with 'Prongsie' as 'Tom' had called him.

He laughed as he twirled her around. "You are gonna get pretty dizzy after tonight. Trust Dumbledore to think up something like that eh?" Well, looks like Moony's up next. Bye!" There was another 'CHANGE! and he waltz to the side.

'Moony' was a decided gentleman, swinging her far more gently than her previous two partners. "Hey," he said eyes sparkling. "I think they're quite taken with you. Heavens knows how long it's been since a girl didn't giggle and cling on to them... Well, nice dancing with you, it's been a pleasure, my Lady." He bowed slightly.

He paused and gave her a small bow, which Lily blushed and returned with a small curtsy. "You too, my lord."

'CHANGE!' And Lily was swung to her right and started dancing with 'Dick'. He smiled merrily at her. "Don't think we're all pricks who only care about popularity and stuff like that. We certainly aren't... and well... Prongs' just a wee bit crazy. But well, all of us are... being under Dumbledore for seven years... His insanity is bound to rub off on us. Guess we'll see each other some time later. Padfoot is bound to find you." With a laugh, he swung her off, and moved to the girl beside her as the lead singer yelled 'CHANGE!'.

Lily had a great time. After that, she had danced with a boy she assumed was a Slytherin, as he was looking at everything as though something unpleasant was under his nose, a girl who was trying to act as a guy, a shockingly blue-haired guy, two others who had tried to peek down her dress, several that had tried to worm a kiss out of her, to which she had pushed as far away as possible and quickly moved away as the singer yelled for a change. Two more rather gentlemanly guys whom she assumed was from Gryffindor, as Gryffindor guys were usually the most sought-after of the lot, and had the best manners, as well as three of her teachers.

Lily was having so much fun that she had abandoned her usual reservations and was laughing merrily at the going-ons. When the lead singer yelled 'CHANGE!' she stepped away from a good-looking blond to the next person.

"Ahh!" She yelped. "Professor Dumbledore?!" Standing opposite her was her ageing Headmaster, twirling her along to the beat of a well-known wizarding song.

"Is anything wrong Miss Evans?" He asked, chuckling.

Lily shook her head. "It's just... well, unexpected."

Dumbledore laughed. "It's always good to enjoy yourself. It's quite fun isn't it? Aren't you glad you came?"

Lily nodded her head.

"Ah, Minerva!" Dumbledore laughed and danced away, turning to his right and cutting in with a dancing McGonagall and 'Tom' and changing partners so that he was dancing with her. McGonagall was looking as though she too was enjoying herself.

Lily changed a few dozen more partners before Dumbledore's magnified voice called for a stop.

"I trust you've enjoyed yourselves thoroughly?" There was a resounding shout of approval. "Well, now, off to your own dancing!"

As Lily made her way back to the side of the Hall, a guy accosted her.

"Now. You're not getting away so easily..." he told her quietly. It was Prongs. "May I have this dance?"

"Sure..." Lily replied, and allowed him to lead her to the dance floor.

"Are you enjoying yourself?" He asked as a slow song started and he put his chin onto the top Lily's head.

"Well... yes... I'm just not used to attending these sort of things," Lily murmured softly.

"Well, you should you know... You're really the star of the evening."

Lily glowed with happiness. 'He's really nice... I have never had anyone pay me such compliments. Even Petunia hasn't cared much about me...'

"Thank you..."

_**-----**_

Sirius, Remus and Peter were at the bar, watching the couple dancing.

"Man is James one lucky bastard!" Sirius howled as he looked at them. "She's hot!"

Peter nodded as he took a swig from his PhoenixWhisky, a milder version of FireWhisky. "Yea, but they certainly go extremely well with each other."

Remus nodded. "God knows how long it's been since James has enjoyed being with a girl. There's so many girls out there waiting to throw themselves at him, but he doesn't want that..."

Sirius nodded in agreement. "Ah, well, I guess that means no stealing... Marauders code of honour!" He said proudly. He eyed a brunette coming over to the bar. "Well, that's Bella I see coming over here. Well, at least I think it's Bella..." He laughed. "Bye guys, I'm off to see my lady love!"

Remus snorted. "Well, let's just hope that she doesn't bite your head off before tonight ends. The girl hates your guts!"

Sirius looked crestfallen for a moment, then brightened up. "Well, there's always hope."

He hopped off the chair and walked over to the girl, bowing lowly.

"May I have this dance?" He offered her his hand, looking hopefully at her.

The girl studied him closely for a few seconds, then accepted his hand graciously. "I would love to."

Sirius appeared to be in bliss as he waltzed the girl of his dreams through the dance floor. All over, the couples turned to look at them, girls and guys alike staring enviously at what seemed to be a perfect match.

People thought that he was a fickle person, going for almost every girl that did not look like a hag, but he had only liked one person... the person that had to hate him since they met in their first year when Sirius tried to show his affection by charming a few gnomes to sing to her. Unfortunately, the charm backfired and she ended up in the hospital wing for nearly a week. Needless, to say, it didn't go well after that.

The girl had closed her eyes, and was resting her head on his shoulder.

"Who are you?" Sirius murmured softly as he stared down at her.

Her eyes remained closed but she answered him... "I'm who I am... No one else."

Sirius stared at her. "Ahh, I'm enlightened."

She laughed quietly, the tinkling of bells through the air and looked up at him. "You don't need to know that."

Then, she sighed and placed her head back on his shoulder.

"Why the quick change of mood?" Sirius asked in concern.

"Nothing..." Then, she quickly looked back up at him that Sirius was startled. "Have you ever believed in true love?"

Sirius nodded.

"Well, I don't know if I should be telling you this..."

"Go on, whatever it is, I won't laugh, scorn or run away..." he said.

She looked at him and laughed again.

"Well, that's the worse that could happen eh?" Sirius said, scratching his head and looking at her sheepishly.

"Well, it's just that... I've known this guy since first year..."

Sirius heart fell. "And...?" He questioned softly. 'Maybe this isn't her...' He said hopefully to himself.

"And, well, I mean, he irritates the hell out of me, everytime I see him, but I dunno, he also goes out of the way to be nice to me, or treats me differently? Maybe I'm wrong, but I guess... I dunno, I guess, everyone says he isn't right, and that he would hurt me, but I can't help myself, I've fallen for his silly little antics, and I'm scared that now he has given up me after I've rejected him. Why couldn't I see that he was the right one for me?" She had started sobbing and didn't seem to know what she was saying. "Oh, stupid Bella... what did you do to yourself this time?" She questioned herself.

'It's Bella,' Sirius thought, his heart falling even further. 'And she likes someone else...'

He patted her back miserably.

"It's alright..." he said softly.

She looked up at him. "It's not alright... It won't be. You probably think I'm stupid or something... You probably think that I should just forget about it..."

"No I don't... You should keep trying... Even though you think it may be impossible, keep trying," he said sadly, thinking of him and Bella. "I'm sure that for someone as lovely as you, everything will turn out all right in the end..."

"Thank you... It's just that, well, Sirius has always been a part of me... I was just too stupid to realise. I guess I had best go now..." She said tearfully and walked away.

Sirius started as he heard his name, and a slow ball of warmth gradually built up inside him. 'Did she just say me? She did, didn't she? I'm not dreaming.'

He chased after her and engulfed her in an enormous hug from behind. She spun around, startled. Her eyes were already dry, the result of magic. (ahhh! Isn't magic useful?)

"What do you think you're doing?" She asked.

Sirius got down on to his knees, (cheesy, but oh so romantic). "Bella, I know I've been a bloody prat all these years, but I also know one thing, and it's that I like you a lot... Only you. Not Tracy, or Marie or Desaine or any of those other girls, but you, dear sweet Bella."

He conjured up a single red rose and pushed it into her hands, waiting anxiously for her reaction.

After moments of silence from her, the hopeful expression on Sirius' face fell. "It-it was nice dancing with you Bella. I'm sorry if I startled you," he said and got onto his feet sadly, turning to get away.

There was a single sound from behind him. The sound of the rose stem hitting the floor, and a pair of arms wrapped around his waist. He turned around quickly, and Bella had buried her face in his robe, which was now feeling a little wet from her tears. "Oh, Sirius," she mumbled into his robe.

He looked down at her, stunned for a moment, then slowly, reached down to return the hug.

_**-----**_

From across the Great Hall, Remus and Peter, the remaining two Marauders were surveying the scene.

"Well," Remus said. "That's it huh? Padfoot finally got the girl of his dreams. We've waited so long for that to happen. Amidst all the tears, happiness, fights and despair, we sometimes thought that it wouldn't happen, and sometimes thought that Sirius had given up, but it finally happened." He smiled sideways at Peter, who was beaming at the couple.

"I'm really happy for them," he said. "But well, now there's only you, me and James. Well, there's James if he doesn't get that girl over there..."

Remus smiled at his friend. "No one would want to be with a werewolf, my friend."

Peter smiled back at him, and patted him on the shoulder. "I'm sure you'll find your own Bella like Sirius did... somewhere, sometime." He downed his PhoenixWhisky and hopped off the chair to join in a fast-paced dance.

**_-----_**

The song ended and another faster-paced one started. The girl that was dancing with James laughed and tugged on his hand. "Let's sit this one out... I don't do fast dances."

James laughed and led her over to a small table. A snow pixie was resting on the top of the rose, her minute wings glowing silver and purple in the candlelight.

He felt astonishingly refreshed. It had been a very long time since he had actually went for a date proper. It was Sirius and Peter who was the ladies men in their group. It just didn't feel right. His strict upbringing in high wizard society taught him to always be a perfect gentleman. But this girl was different. Sure, he had female friends. There were people like Jill, and Bella, and the other Marauders who stuck with him and saw him as who he really was, and not some good-looking Quidditch star that was ripe for the taking. She didn't giggle at every sentence he made, didn't come on to strongly... she was just her.

"That's pretty," the girl said softly as she stuck a finger out and allowed the pixie to dance around it.

"Yup, they sure are. The Forbidden Forest is the only place where you can find this breed of snow pixies," James said. "Who are you anyway?" He asked.

"I'm Athena...You know, the Greek goddess of wisdom," she said, gesturing to her white attire.

James raised an eyebrow.

"Well, the modernized version of her anyway..." She said, adding a laugh to the end.

A clock chimed in the distance, a single time. Dumbledore stood up. "People, the dance is over. I hope you have enjoyed yourselves tremendously, and off to beds with you, chop chop!"

James turned back, thinking about asking the girl if she would like him to walk her back, but she had already gone, weaving her way carefully through the crowd until she disappeared from view.

**_-----_**

Lily undressed slowly and sunk into her hot bath, relaxing her body. Half an hour later, dressed in warm clothes, she was perched on the window sill.

"Grandmama, I think I met that special someone today... It was at a dance... I had such a fun time today, Grandmama... He was there, with his three friends, with long brown hair and blue eyes that expressed so much emotion. I felt the spark..." she said, speaking heavenward.

At James' Head rooms, the four friends were seated around his bed, thinking of the events that happened that night.

"Well, I certainly had fun," Sirius said dreamily.

James reached over Remus to shove Sirius in the shoulder, so he toppled onto the bed. But, Sirius, after all the events that had happened in the last few hours, had a goofy expression on his face and did not respond to James' push.

"I wonder why," Peter said dryly. "I would be very happy indeed if I got to walk Bella back to the dorms too. What do you say Sirius?" He said cheekily.

With a rather dog-like growl, Sirius bounced off the bed in a flash and glared comically at Peter. "You were saying?"

Peter rolled his eyes. "Oh, honestly!"

Sirius grinned. "Nahh, you wouldn't do that Wormtail. And, Prongs! What the hell was that shove for anyway?!" He added indignantly, jumping over Remus to pounce on James and grab him into a tackle.

A small fight soon ensued, with Peter and Sirius on one team and James and Remus on the other. It ended with James' team victorious.

"But, seriously, I enjoyed myself today," James said happily, striding over to his mini-bar and getting out bottles of Firewhisky for them.

"Me too," three voices chimed in.

"Aww, Moony, you have to learn to loosen up to other people than ourselves! You hardly danced tonight, and god knows how many girls there were out there staring at you hoping for you to ask them to dance," Peter said.

Moony laughed softly. "I had fun... I danced the circle dance... I did have fun guys," he insisted. "It's just that no one would ever want a werewolf like me..." he said sadly.

His three friends looked at each other, then worriedly back at him. Remus had always been insecure in first year, and up till they had found out about his illness in the fourth year, he had regularly shied away from company. Obviously, some of his insecurity had surfaced tonight.

"Moony... some people don't care about what you are... they only care about the real you, deep down... we all do..." James said as he engulfed Remus in a brotherly hug.

"Awww… GROUP HUG!!" yelled Sirius comically as they piled on top of Remus.

The quartet pulled apart, and Remus was smiling. "Thank you guys, I don't know what I would do without you..."

"Well," Sirius said, cracking the heads off a bottle of FireWhisky and passing it around the group. "What are friends for?"

He placed his right hand un front of him, and the left one over his heart. James imitated, placing his right hand on top of Remus' and his left over his heart. Then came Peter and Remus.

"A_ll for one, one for all,  
__Marauders forevermore,_" they chorused.

And as the words were echoed into the night, and the stars twinkled fiercely in the deep midnight sky, and in times to come, it would be certain that these strong bonds of friendship were to hold.

_But sadly..._

**End of Chapter Four.****  
**----------------------------------------------------------

**cube**


	5. R that evil glint in Sirius' eyes

**Turn Right Turn Left.**

**Chapter 5**: That evil glint in Sirius' eyes…

**Disclaimer**: Am not JK Rowling. You get the idea. If I was I would have been earning big bucks by now... This story is also adapted from the Taiwanese movie of the same name.

**Summary**:

This story is about two ill-fated young people, James and Lily, who are destined to be together, but unfortunately their paths never cross. James always turns left, while Lily turns right. Through some strange coincidence, they never meet, even though James is Head Boy while Lily is Head Girl, and have totally no idea who the other party is. They chance upon an encounter in Hogsmeade, and find that they have in fact, met before.

But when they part, they realise they have no means of contacting each other, and set out to find their soul mate.

**Date posted**: 6/11/2003

**Revised**: 28/7/2004

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So time passed by as winter deepened and the weeks started to blur together in a haze of pure white. The snow was thick on the ground and still falling heavily and the cutting winds that brought the snow stung any uncovered cheek and showed no signs of abating. The castle was coated with frost, icicles hanging from the towers, and snow collecting on the buildings.

Within the castle, a quiet hush had fallen. Many had chosen to return home for the holidays, and what meager students Hogwarts now held were not enough to cause much of a disturbance. Well, that was, excepting the Marauders. The corridors, with the absence of the usual lessons, suddenly seemed empty and cold. The House Elves, meanwhile, were having their work cut out for them, in keeping the remaining occupants warm and snug within the castle walls. The fires roared in the four common rooms, and the Great Hall had been installed with heaters. (when I was first writing this I wrote freezers!! Hahaha!)

In one of the rooms, specifically, the Gryffindor common room, the absence of students did nothing to make the place seem less welcoming. The roaring fires in the hearth cast a glowing shadow over the whole room, making it appear more vividly red than usual, and the cheerful banter of the students made the room seem smaller and cozy.

And it was here, at the corner of the room nearest the fireplace, that we found the Marauders and two other friends.

Sirius leant over to peer out of the window, happily surveying the grounds below him. "I'm sure that snow hill over there is steep enough to go sledging," he said enthusiastically as he glanced back at his friends.

James nodded nonchalantly. "Sure, if you want to go sledging and break your neck."

"Aww, come on Prongs! Come on! It looks so inviting!" Sirius insisted.

James shrugged. "Well, your loss of life, not mine..." and he promptly turned back to his game of wizards chess with Remus.

"Haha! Checkmate Moony! Come on, pay up!" James crowed as he moved his knight into striking position of Remus' queen.

Remus glared comically at James as he dug a hand into his pocket and drew out 5 galleons. "Prongs, this is only a one-off chance!"

"Yea... Right!" James said airily and waved a hand haughtily in the air. "I could beat you anytime I wanted to!"

"Is anyone even listening to me?" Sirius sulked.

"NO!" Replied three voices, namely those of James, Remus and Peter.

Sirius pouted for a moment, then cheered up visibly as he turned to his left. "Hey Bella!" He said cheerfully! "Do you want to go down?"

A girl looked up at him and grinned. "I think I'll pass this time."

"Aww, come on Bella! You know you adore me! Besides, its fun!" Sirius said happily as he fell back into the couch, his head resting on her lap.

"Fun?" James said sarcastically. "As in, that time I nearly drowned cause you pushed me onto the Great Lake after deciding all of us were to go ice-skating with you and we found out that the ice wasn't quite thick enough?"

"Or, maybe it was fun the time I got covered in a snowdrift after one of your fantastic snowball fights that it took hours four you guys to find me?" Peter asked.

"It's not _my_ fault that you're so short Pete!" Retorted Sirius good-naturedly.

"Yes," Remus said cheekily, joining in on the Sirius-attack. "I suppose it was fun too when you convinced us to go caroling outside, and it was so off-tune that we got bombarded by the castle?"

"Hey! What is it! The-attack-the-dog-day?" Sirius yelped indignantly.

"Dog?" Jill asked him, looking questioningly at Bella, who shrugged.

"Dog?" Remus said awkwardly. "He meant god. Heh heh. Isn't that right guys?" He said and glanced over at them.

James and Peter nodded, looking so guilty that their faces just plainly shouted "Liar! Liar!"

"Sirius…?" Bella asked.

"Mmm?" Sirius mumbled sleepily.

**_-----_**

Arabella Figg sighed as she looked down at her boyfriend with a small tender smile. It had been two weeks since they had started the relationship, and yet, it was still going strong, a surprising feat for Sirius, and everyday to them seemed like bliss. As long as they were together, nothing could go wrong. She grasped his hand, and he squeezed it for a moment before opening a cheeky eye to look at her. Then, he fell back to sleep. Then, she looked around. The Gryffindor common room still awed her, even after her numerous visits here. She was from Ravenclaw, and even though she loved her common room to bits, this was a simply different experience. At Ravenclaw, there was much less coziness and much more order, and the place was too quiet for her liking. She then turned to survey the people around her. It seemed that just a while ago that they had been total strangers, with her knowing them only as Sirius' pesky friends, and them knowing her as the girl Sirius likes. But, that had all changed. They were now dear friends, though the short time they had spent together so far meant that she didn't get to know them all that well.

Peter laughed. "Oh, honestly! That guy is simply fantastic! He appears to be on a sugar high one moment, and then the next he can sleep even while standing."

The others laughed along with him. "Well, that's Sirius for you..." And the moment of awkwardness was gone as fast as it had came, leaving the six friends to enjoy each other's company.

**_-----_**

Lily shivered slightly and held her cloak tighter to her. She was perched on her rooftop, a shelter specially constructed blocked out the most chilling of winds, yet the cold still got through to her bones. The decision to stay at Hogwarts was a last minute choice, and she stared miserably out towards the horizon.

"Why didn't Pet let me attend her wedding?" She asked herself sadly. The wind snatched her words away even before the were fully formed, and blew them away.

The memories were still painful for her. Earlier that morning, she had received two letters. One by her mother, and the other by her sister. The latter told her in rather rude terms that Lily was not to be allowed to attend her wedding, and the former had been very apologetic.

_Dearest Lily,_

_Petunia has told me that you will be engaged during the first week of your holidays. (It is good that you two sisters still keep ion such close contact isn't it!) And I'm terribly sorry that you can't attend your sister's wedding. She's marrying a Vernon Dursley. Not what I would have thought of at first, but it is her choice... But, I guess, duty calls first huh?_

_And seeing that you'll be spending X'mas away from home, (your first time too! I really am going to miss you! It isn't so enjoyable when you're not here. You know your sis isn't very enthusiastic about these things.) well, here's some money to buy your presents in that lovely wizarding village you mentioned to me last last summer._

_Miss you loads!_

_Mum._

Looking at the money, she had a strange urge to hurl the lot into the wind, along with her worries, and let them be blown away.

She sighed slowly. 'If I have to get my presents, I might as well get them now. There's no point in dragging. I could get a nice present for Mum and Pet too...' and climbed off her roof into the comfort of her bedroom.

Donning a coat of midnight blue splashed with silver, she set off down the well-worn path to Hogsmead, each step lightening with the thought of Christmas.

**_-----_**

At that same moment, another group of people were making their way up the same path, chattering merrily with each other.

James trudged up the path with his friends, and upon reaching Hogsmeade, immediately announced their departure to Zonkos and Quality Quidditch Supplies. Agreeing to meet back at the Three Broomsticks later that day, the group parted, with the Marauders going one way, and Bella and her friend going the other.

"Typical Marauders huh!" Her friend, a girl of mixed heritage said. "They bring us to Hogwarts and then abandon us!"

Bella laughed at her friends comical expression. "Oh Jill! You know that they would go on about pranks and stuff..."

Jill laughed along with her friend, "I suppose! Now, lets go! Christmas shopping!"

And they walked along easily down the street.

"Since this is Christmas, it is a time of giving, and sharing!" Bella declared, as she slung her hand over Jill's shoulders.

"I would like to thank you for being such a good friend," Jill interrupted playfully.

"-Yea. Though we didn't exactly start off like that huh?"

Jill nodded. "Oh, I can remember THAT!"

Bella cut in, "-well, it wasn't my fault you were being childish!"

"Nor mine!" Jill said, and they laughed again. "Remember how we met?"

_(from now on I won't say who says what, so every new speech sentence is a different person. like Jill, Bella, Jill, Bella.)_

"Of, course, how could I forgot. It was six years ago-"

"-during our second year. It was Christmas as well-"

"-and, we were sitting at opposite ends of the table when you took my parchment-"

"I retaliated by throwing my quill at you, and we started-"

"-an all out yelling war. In fact, I still remember the exact words-"

"Me too."

_**--**_Flashy backy_**!--**_

_"Why are you so self-centered? You think the whole world revolves around you, Figg?" A red-faced Jill bellowed across the table. People were looking around in interest to watch the scene._

_"Well, who was the one that took my parchment?" Bella spat out furiously. "I was clearly writing on it! Now look what you've done!" A parchment lay a few feet away, a long black stain down the front of the parchment._

_"You can clean it up! It's a simple spell! Or are you too stupid to perform it?" Jill said nastily._

_Around them, people were discussing whose side to take, for these two girls were already emerging as being popular even with the older seventh years._

_"I think Jill... Heard she went out with Jake. But Bella's got Black."_

_The two girls face turned redder and redder._

_"I KNOW WHAT THIS IS ABOUT!" They yelled at the same time. "YOU'RE JUST JEALOUS! DON'T THINK I DON'T KNOW! YOU WANT TO BE THE MOST POPULAR ONE HERE ISN'T IT?" They bellowed, still in synchronization. "WELL, LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING! YOU CAN HAVE IT! TAKE EVERYTHING! FOR GOODNESS SAKE! I DON'T CARE ABOUT THIS! ALL THIS STUPID FUSS ABOUT BEING POPULAR. YOU THINK I LIKE IT? WELL, I DON'T!"_

_And then, after a few minutes of non-stop shouting, they both ran out of breath and just stared angrily at each other over the table. Then, suddenly, both seemed to realise what had happened, and they started to laugh hysterically._

_"What're you laughing at?" They asked each other at the same time through tears of laughter._

_"I don't think we've been properly introduced yet," Jill said, sticking out her hand. "I'm Jill Sakura Anastasia Sanders. And you are...?"_

_Bella shook the hand. "Arabella (she made a face) Melanie Figg. I've a feeling we're gonna get along just fine." And she grinned goofily at the girl opposite her._

**_--_**End of flashy**_--_**

And they had stayed through to each other, their friendship eventually blossoming into the sort of sisterhood that both shared.

Too absorbed in their thoughts, they had not noticed where they were walking to, and subsequently, a painful crash brought them back to their senses. They were sprawled on the floor, the cold seeping into their behinds. It was then that they noticed the girl opposite them, who was looking rather dazed.

"Oh I'm sorry," the girl quickly said as she looked at them nervously. "I really didn't see where I was going." She got up quickly and bent down to help them to their feet.

Bella looked up into emerald eyes. 'Who is she? I should have seen her around before."

"I guess I'd best be going now..." the girl said and hastened to turn around.

"No wait!" Jill said, "why don't you join us for the day. I assume you're doing some shopping too?"

The girl shuffled her feet nervously, but met their gaze with a shy smile. "If it's all right with you all..."

"Of course it's fine with us!" Bella exclaimed. "Come with us! It's lonely shopping alone in Hogsmeade!"

"Jill and Bella, you?"

"Lily."

Two hours later, the three emerged from Gladrags Wizard Wear, laden down with various packages. The trio were talking and laughing as though they had known each other for most of their lives.

"Lily, we're going to Three Broomsticks to meet up with our friends? Do you wanna come too? I'm sure they wouldn't mind..." Bella said quickly, spotting the look of apprehension on Lily's face.

"Umm, no thanks... It's getting late, and I have to get back to the castle..." Lily said politely. "But, thanks for the shopping trip." She smiled with a far-off look, and her emerald eyes shined with happiness. "Goodbye, Bella, Jill. It was lovely meeting you."

"Bye Lily," they chorused.

Then, they turned and walked to the meeting place.

"What puzzles me is that we've never met her before in our seven years here," Bella said. "I mean, she's such a nice person, and she is beautiful. She ought to be fairly well-known. But no... But what strikes me is that she isn't at all stuck up. And she seems embarrassed at the attention, you know, like she isn't used to having company," Bella mused.

Jill nodded thoughtfully beside her. Then she shrugged. "Oh well, I suppose we'll bang into her another time. If we're to get to the Three Broomsticks on time to meet them, we've got to stop dallying."

_**-----**_

As Lily turned to walk up the path back to school, she felt a small glow of happiness build up in the pits of her stomach, and a small smile touched her face.

'Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea to stay over Christmas...' she thought to herself as she recounted the days events. They had practically gone into most of the shops in Hogsmeade, and, for once, Lily had actually enjoyed the prospect of 'girl' shopping.

'For once, just this once, I actually felt... liked.' The thought sounded foreign in Lily's brain, for it had been a very long time since she had had real friends.

'Grandma, did you see that?' Humming happily to herself, she walked down the well beaten path, her steps lighter than it had been for a long time.

And, as she passed Quality Quidditch Supplies, she was too absorbed in her own happy thoughts that she didn't notice the three people who had come out.

_**-----**_

"Oh man!" James said, as the four stopped outside the shop, discussing what they had seen. A small figure wrapped in a cloak walked hurriedly pass, undoubtedly one of the Hogsmeade locals hurrying home for dinner. (It was Lily. Oh, blind James) "Did you see that new SwiftStar model? It looked damn good, and its functions surpass even those of the Nimbus series," James said excitedly, a fire dancing in his eyes as he talked.

Sirius looked up from his conversation with James, and a small frown of concentration creased his face as he watched the person walking down the street. He was quite sure that the person was a her, from the slight build, and that he had met her previously, but he couldn't place a finger on her identity.

"Padfoot_... Padfoot_?" James asked, looking at him in puzzlement. "Oh, well, I shouldn't ask. Come on, we're gonna be late."

They finally trampled wearily into the Three Broomsticks, gratefully shaking the snow out of their cloaks and warming their hands in front of the fireplace before making their way to the table where the Sirius and Remus were seated, talking with light, carefree faces, and laughing over something, while James and Peter were at the bar, chatting to Madam Rosmerta, the bartender.

Sirius threw back his head and laughed, catching Bella's eye.

"Bella! Hey Jill!" Sirius greeted enthusiastically. "Shove away Moony, give the pretty ladies space to sit."

Remus rolled his eyes, but moved over all the same. "And what am I? Dog poo?" He asked jokingly.

"Err. Yea, kind of," Sirius muttered distractedly as he flashed a silly grin at Bella.

Sirius scooted over the chair to sit beside Bella, and Jill smiled at them.

"Hey Sirius."

James and Peter made their way over, carrying gigantic tankards of butterbeer and other snacks.

"Hey Bella, Jill," they greeted and plunked themselves and the drinks down into the booth.

"So what have you guys been doing? We went to stock up on our prank supply... We've been running short for ages," Sirius said as he pointed to ten bulging bags beside their table. "And we went to Quality Quidditch Supplies to get that new edition of Flying Through the Ages..."

"Us, nothing much, same stuff. We went shopping. Say, do you guys know any red-heads in Hogwarts?" Jill asked in interest.

"That depends... Real red-heads, or fake ones?" Peter asked jokingly, taking a sip from his tankard.

Bella raised at eyebrow at him and laughed. "It doesn't matter. Maybe about from fourth year and up?"

"Hmmm," Peter said thoughtfully, setting his tankard down and scratching his nose with a finger. "There's Elsie Knight, Wendy Kissner and Jade Xu from Fourth Year..." and he went on listing. "... And that's about it."

"Are you sure?" Bella asked.

"Quite, unless there's anymore that we haven't dated," Peter replied with a grin.

_**-----**_

And like that, weeks passed, and students gradually returned to Hogwarts fresh for the new term, and winter slowly went away as Spring came and the grounds started to awaken. A hint of chill still hung in the air, but it made Hogwarts coolly comfortable and the flowers started to push through the soil.

And as the weeks passed, life resumed and started to fall into the same hectic schedules as teachers started to be frantic, for the OWLs and NEWTS were but mere months away.

Soon, the memory of that week in winter when Bella and Jill had met Lily in Hogsmeade started to fade away again, though it did not completely disappear.

_**-----**_

And, for them, life was still looking up. For Bella, things could not have been better, for she was still with Sirius and their relationship seemed to be blossoming and getting stronger everyday. The first few days of the new term, she had been greeted with sugary-sweet smiles that congratulated her, but, those smiles turned to scowls of jealously the moment her back was turned. However, they had not been very perturbed, after all, they thought she wasn't bound to last. Then, weeks later, it was still Sirius and Bella, and the glares became obvious, as whispers were blatantly given under breaths whenever she passed. But, still here they were.

Bella sighed happily as she leant against Sirius. They had been watching the spectacular sunset over the Hogwarts ground.

"I have never realised Hogwarts could be so beautiful at sunset," she murmured.

"It's even more so when you're here," Sirius said quietly as he looked out towards the great lake.

Bella looked up at him, and smiled. "You're a bloody smooth talker, that's what you are, you great big prat, but I still like you all the same."

Sirius laughed and put his arms around her shoulders. "It's cold, and it's getting dark, let's go in."

**_-----_**

The past few months for Lily had been the usual. As homework started to build up, she became increasing alone, as she built up the barriers around her and concentrated on her schoolwork. The encounter in Hogsmeade was now stored in a dusty corner of her mind. She had spent many sleepless nights after that wondering if it was just for fun, or if they had really liked her. Soon after, she had abandoned those thoughts, instead choosing to think on the bright side that at least she had the precious few memories to remind her of Hogwarts. And, still, the C-globe lay, dusty and unused.

Life for her had again slipped into obscurity, a monotone of attending lessons and going unnoticed by the whole Hogwarts population.

The next morning, Lily exited her rooms, her head buried in a schoolbook and turned right, taking the familiar path down to the Hogwarts ground.

_**-----**_

James stepped out of the portrait hole, his hair still wet from his morning shower, but still standing up messily. It was a Saturday, and they were free to do whatever they wanted. He jammed his hands into the pockets of his pants and set of down the left to find his friends.

"Padfoot! Euggh! You're making me sick!" James complained loudly as he watched Sirius whisper into Bella's ears.

Sirius snorted loudly. "James don't be rude!" And he grinned widely at James.

James made a gagging face. "Well, Bella since you're here, you might as well sit," he said, indicating to a free seat at the Gryffindor table.

"Err, no thanks James. Jill and I are going to the Ravenclaw table soon. Our friends complain that we don't spend enough time with them," Bella said.

Remus grinned. "Wonder why, eh?"

"But, according to them, we're damn lucky to sit with the Maruaders. James, did you know that Lindsey thinks you're hot?" Bella asked cheekily, her eyes twinkling.

James rolled his eyes.

"Oh come on James. It's time you had some fun. If I'm not wrong, you haven't dated ever when you were in Hogwarts. And there's so many girls queuing up for you. Just go and chose one!" Sirius said lightly. "The world's a much beautiful place when you have someone to share it with." And he flashed a lopsided grin with Bella.

"Come on Padfoot, that's absurd. Go bug Moony, or Wormtail. I don't see them having girlfriends," James retorted.

"Ahh," Sirius said importantly. "They may not have girlfriends, but you see, it's a totally different matter."

"And how so?"

"Petey," he said, indicating to Peter who was across the room chatting up a Hufflepuff, "lives life on the fast lane. He doesn't even stick to one, and that's how he likes it. He can chose his own anytime he wants, and he knows how to have fun. And Remmy here," he said, slapping Remus on the back, causing his face to fall flat onto his plate, "is already tied up with someone... well, give him time and he'll be allowed to tie it up."

This got James attention. "Who?"

"I'm sorry, I must be losing my hearing can you speak a little louder into my good ear please. '_Who_' doesn't matter. But, it's you now having liking a single girl that matters. Just chose one Prongs," Sirius said and waved a fork around in the air.

"No," James replied flatly.

"No?"

"No."

"What if I pay you?"

"_No_."

Sirius sighed loudly. "Oh well, I suppose drastic times call for drastic measures."

He looked at James with a glint in his eye, a glint that James recognised all too well, and this glint told James that Sirius was planning something, something that would have a disastrous outcome for him.

"Oh no, Sirius, what are you doing? This is going to be bad," James groaned.

"Oh, it won't be bad!" Sirius said airily.

"Oh yea?" James asked dryly. "That glint in your eye tells me otherwise. Everytime you have that glint, something goes wrong. That glint had been there when you tried to tame me hair, but instead ended up with me growing massive amounts of leg hair, and that glint had been there too when we tried to play with the Giant Squid and almost ended up getting the four of us eaten up and it was there too when-"

"OK, OK! I get your point! It isn't always that bad. I remember I came up with a extremely good prank when I had that glint once," Sirius said.

"Yea, unfortunately, McGonagall was the first to walk into the prank," Remus said informatively. "Remember what happened next? She lost her mind, and instead of gi-"

"-ving out detentions, she started cursing us and we all landed up in the Hospital wing with our hand joined to the place our nose should have been and our eyes transfigured onto out behind," Sirius completed. "Ok! So, that wasn't good either. But who cares, James relax! This time nothing's gonna happen to you."

"Oh, yea, I think this will leave me with a profoundly disturbing memory. Err... thanks for thinking of me Sirius, but I'll skip," James said _hurriedly and tried to get up._

"Oh, nonsense," Sirius replied airily. "You'll thank me after this is over. Oi! Cindy! Over here!" He bellowed.

A horrified look crossed James expression. "Her? NOT HER! PLEASE NOT HER! I am not going out with a freaking OIL RIG! Beside I don't even like her! Sirius... Ahhh! Sirius! NOOO!!" He shot a look at the girl nearing their table, and immediately ripped Sirius' restraining hand from his shoulder, and tore out of the Great Hall.

"Hmm," Sirius asked, looking at them. "Was it something I said? Oh, hey Cindy. What you doing here?... Did I call you?... Well then, I don't remember doing so... I must be getting old. Well, bye!" He said, and quickly exited the Great Hall.

James quickly ran down the stairs to the Hogwarts grounds, checking over his shoulder every once in a while to see if anyone was in pursuit.

"Damn that Sirius!" He muttered to himself.

Grumbling angrily, he let his feet carry him away from the castle, not noticing where he was headed for.

_**-----**_

Lily was on the sprawling grounds. For some reason, the book didn't appeal to her that much on that Saturday morning. All around, signs of spring could be seen, as gren started to poke up from under the last traces of snow. Friends sat around the large oaks together, happily talking, and even the bright sunlight seemed to be mocking her as a cloud passed momentarily by, shrouding only herself in shadows. It seemed to tell ehr that she was alone. She felt listless, and wandered around the school grounds for a while. Soon, she found her feet carrying her down a beaten track, oblivious to the person striding down the road in front of her.

**End of Chapter Five.  
**----------------------------------------------------------

**cube**


	6. Oh! They FINALLY meet! JOY!

~~~  
  
**Turn Left Turn Right.  
  
Chapter 6: Oh! They FINALLY meet! JOY!!  
**  
----  
  
Disclaimer: Am not J.K. Rowling. Don't sue.  
  
-----  
  
Summary: Two people who are destined to be together, (Lily and James) never meet but are always only a few feet away from each other. They live in bliss, ignorant of others, until one day they chance upon an encounter with each other and realise that their lives have missing pieces in it. They part, but then, are unable to contact each other again, leaving two love- torn teenagers desperately trying to find their other half.  
  
11 November 2003  
  
***  
  
~~~  
  
**Squiggles1**: Oh well, you didn't review the last chapter, but hey, of course there will always be a special dedication to you. Hope you're not too busy to read this chapter!

  
**On-fire-for-christ**: Hehe, well, I'm not all that evil! They meet in this chapter, don't die too soon! =)  
  
**Darksarchangel**: Hahaha! I re-read it and the "bang" part is erm… quite lame! Nice to see that I'm not that weird!! (hint: Purple and black)   
  
**ShorTi**: Oh darn! I never knew I've been spelling Hogsmeade wrong all the while. Well, thanks for telling me. =) Yea, they're meeting!!!

**Indiangurl**: Yes, they run into each other here!

**Julyborn09**: Yuck! History test! I don't have any idea if you wanted the update before or after Tuesday. It's errm, Tuesday now, so I guess it's just a little late, or a little early. =P

**Tribal Leader**: Haha, thanks for that, but I seriously don't think it's that good. But, it's appreciated all the same. I just enjoy writing this story.

**Peeny_P****, LJstagflower4e, blackdragonofdeath13: They meet here, which is what you people have been waiting for so…**

  
So here you guys go!  
  
~~~  
  


  
Lily walked listlessly down the Hogsmeade main street, none of the spring that usually characterized her walk were present in her steps. Truth to be told, she was well, just _bored _with dwelling in obscurity. She had tried to let that portion of her mind be overtaken by the endless assignments, trying to be ignorant of what everyone else was doing. But, she couldn't. Her meeting with Bella and Jill had saw to it that she knew what she was missing out on, and frankly, she wanted more of that.

She looked at the number of small buildings that dotted the village square, set against a backdrop of a cloudless and positively sunny blue sky. The cloak she was wearing ensured that she wouldn't be cold in the still chilly spring air. All around there were signs of life, as people started to come out after the cold of winter. She saw as birds happily chirped from rooftops, and women stuck their head out of windows to talk to their neighbours.

Lily sighed. 'Why can't I be happy now?'

Deciding that a visit to her favorite shop wouldn't hurt, she stepped across the cobblestone pavement and entered Flourish and Blotts.

~~

James felt his anger ebb away slowly as he wandered through the numerous quidditch displays in Quality Quidditch Supplies. Quidditch was, after all, his passion, and nothing would ever change that. 

'Well, unfortunately, Sirius does seem to be trying to do so at the moment. Bah!' He thought to himself in irritation. 'I'll know when the right person comes along!'

'Ahh, but will you, really?' A nasty little voice asked him.

'Know what?' 

The voice in his head tsked so loudly, and answered a little impatiently, 'Well, know who the right person is? Will you truly know?' 

'Of course!' James replied stubbornly. 'I'm not blind you know?'

The voice laughed evilly. 'Oh, sure you're not,' it replied sarcastically. 'For all we know, the person might not be a 'she' at all...' the voice muttered. 

James felt his temper rise. 'I'm not gay you know? Do you here me?' He muttered. "I'm **_not_ gay!" But unfortunately, he had said that part out loud, and his face flushed as the people around him turned to look at him strangely. **

"Of course you're not gay, Jamesie," a girl in Hogwarts robes said into the silence. 

"Who are you anyway?" James asked rudely. Then, he stomped out of the shop, swinging the door shut, and spying the door to his right swing shut as well, as a girl in a blue cloak entered Flourish and Blotts.

"Why is everyone being so objective today?" He muttered to himself as he set of down the street, hands jammed in his pockets. 

As he walked along the street he passed by a woman pushing a pram along.

"Oh, hey Mrs Lee," he said automatically, greeting on of his mother's friends. "Hey, Alice." And he bent down to tickle her chin.

"Oh, James! How's your mom? Fine yea? Well, lots to do today, best be off now! Bye!"

And he walked on.

~~

Lily stepped out of Flourish and Blotts holding a new book. It was probably around four in the afternoon, time to head back to school, but she found herself walking down the street, in the direction opposite the school. 

"Oh hello, Mrs Lee." Lily said absently, sparing a sweet smile and a greeting at the small chinese lady pushing her daughter along in a pram. 

"Hello Alice!" Lily greeted enthusiastically as she bent down to look at the young child. 

"Hello Lily! Well, got to go now, lots to do!"

Lily stood up and watched the two leave, and she turned around, stopping to scratch a scruffy mongrel behind his ears, before she started walking away.  

Soon, she came to a fountain. It was a big marble basin with carved ivory figures placed in the centre. Circling the fountain for a place to sit, she became gradually conscious of someone watching her from the opposite. Lily looked up to meet the person's gaze.

~~

James felt his heart freeze in his mouth as he stared in the girl's eyes. He had strayed over to the fountain after he exited Quality Quidditch Supplies, and at the moment, was unconsciously circling the fountain, the stack of Quidditch cards he had been so excited over forgotten in his hand. 

'They're such a deep emerald green,' James thought dimly as he lost himself in them. 'I've never seen anyone with such green eyes.'

He looked at the girl. She was covered in a midnight blue cloak and silver streaks, and her fiery red hair was blowing slightly from the wind. Her emerald eyes watched him silently. And at that moment, James felt that anyone… even Bella, couldn't have held a close candle with the green-eyed beauty opposite him. He quirked a small smile. 'Sirius would _kill_ me if I told him that.'

~~

Lily started as she locked eyes with the boy. His were a deep chocolate brown that twinkled merrily yet with strength. Unruly black hair stuck out, and the wind was only making it messier. Yet, somehow, the look fitted on him perfectly. He was wearing Hogwarts attire, something, she realised with a start, that she should have been wearing too. The shirt was un-tucked, and the first few buttons undone, with his school tie hanging loosely down, yet, where she had seen so many people failing to look presentable in it, he looked… well… he looked absolutely fantastic. 

Lily spared him one last glance before she sat down and placed her book beside her.

~~

James looked at her from the corner of his eye before quickly sitting down, directly opposite her end of the fountain, his back to hers, and hers to his. 

~~

Lily started to lose herself in the open sky, staring around her, until, suddenly, a loud yell startled her from her reverie. 

She turned back, a small frown on her eyebrows, and realised that her book was floating around the Hogsmeade fountain, with its pages coming loose. With a yell she stood up. 

'Oh no! Oh no! I just bought that too! What spell now?' She thought frantically to herself. 'Oh no! No wand! I'll just have to do this the hard way.'

But before she had time to act, the boy she was observing had already jumped into the fountain and splashed to where the book was. He quickly started to gather the pages, and climbed out of the fountain to give them to her. 

"Well, here, but it's ruined," he said apologetically. 

Lily quickly took the pages. "Thanks anyway. Do you have anything to dry it with?"

He shrugged sheepishly. 

"No wand, I presume?" Lily asked with a small laugh. "Same here. Pathetic bunch of wizards we are huh?" She continued jokingly.

He laughed pleasantly. "We'll have to make do. Come on." He led her over to a big grass patch, and started to lay the pages out one by one on the grass to dry. Then, he too, flopped out onto the grass. 

"Thanks for fishing my book out." Lily said quietly as she sat down beside him. "But you'll need to get dried up."

He opened an eye. "There's no need to thank me. How could I leave you there to battle with the fountain? Well, at least you didn't go in. It's freezing!" 

Lily flushed. "I'm really sorry. You're from Hogwarts? We should go up to the castle to get you dried up."

"There's no need to! It takes more than cold water to get me sick! Yea, I'm from Hogwarts."

~~

James and Lily waited until the pages dried, as they were doing so, both were talking. (They still don't know who each other is. Well, stupid yea.)

"I think they're dried. Come on, let's go!" James said as they quickly gathered the sheets. "I know somewhere that we can go."

Lily laughed at his eagerness. "I think we've overshot curfew."

He got a glint in his eyes. "Well, there's no use for rules to be there if they're not broken, are there?"

He grabbed her hand and led away from the village square and into another part of Hogsmeade.

"I bet you've never seen this place before huh?" He asked.

Lily shook her head. 

"I thought so. Well, most people haven't seen it."

~~

Half an hour later, after wandering around the place, Lily spied a carousal and dragged James across to it. 

It was unlike the Muggle contraptions that she had seen, for it was filled with magical beasts. There were about thirty seats in all. 

"I love these things!" She squealed happily. "I haven't seen one of these in such a long time! Come on!" She leaped easily onto the moving carousal, and settled herself comfortably onto on of the 'horse', which was in fact, a pure white Pegasus, and watched as James jumped on and clamber aboard a black unicorn with a golden horn and they rode round and round. 

(To clear up any confusion, this is sort of in a narrator's view, so their names are used, but, they still don't know who each other are. It will get kind of confusing if I keep using he or she every time.)

"I remember one time, when I was young, we had this class outing..." Lily spoke. 

*** Flashback ***

_It was a day just like any other, but a six year old Lily Evans was waiting excitedly on the steps of her house, waiting for her school bus to come. After all, it was a school field trip, and six year olds got excited easily enough._

_They day proceeded along just well enough, but, sometime around mid-afternoon, disaster struck for the young girl. (it's nothing serious!) _

_"No!" Lily shrieked as she looked at her assignments that were currently scattered over the surface of the duck pond. _

_She quickly got onto her stomach to try and retrieve a few of the pieces, before she heard splashing sounds and looked up. _

_~~ James' Flashback_

_Six year old James Potter splashed into the pond and started swimming around, collecting the pieces of paper. He climbed out of the pond and quickly handed the stack to the girl, and hurriedly ran away, not once meeting her eyes._

*** End ***

Lily laughed. "Well, after that we sat this carousal, sort of like the one back there, but the Muggle kind. It was funny! He was sitting behind me, and I kept trying to peek back at him! But well, everytime I turned back he would avert his gaze!" Lily laughed. 

The pair were now seated outside a café, happily spooning mouthfuls of ice-cream into their mouths. 

"No kidding!" James laughed, but there was a thoughtful light in his eyes. "So tell me, what did the guy look like, and what school were you from then?" He asked, trying not to sound too interested. 

"Well... he had brown eyes and black hair, kind of like you anyway, well, he looked almost like you, except younger. Well, I can't remember what school I was from then. I just know that we were made to wear identification numbers so the teachers knew who we were. Mine was… Umm.. 21931."

James choked on his ice-cream. "Are you sure?" 

Lily frowned at him. "Well, quite."

James started laughing rather loudly. "Well, I remember you now! No wonder you seemed so familiar. I was the idiot who fished your stuff out from the pond, just like what I did just now! I remember your identification number!" He laughed again. "Well, at that moment, I thought you were the most beautiful girl I had ever met, well, I still do in fact!"

Lily blushed at this. "So you're... that guy with the identification number 30126? Right?"

James nodded proudly. "Well, I wanted to get your number on the way back. I somehow got stuck in the same bus as you, but when you were about to get off, I still hadn't worked up the courage to ask."

"Yea, then I asked for yours, didn't I?" Lily laughed as well.

"Then after that-" James started.

"-after that I didn't call you, but well, I didn't forget either. I was walking off the train happily until I realised that I had kept your number in my bag, and my bag was still on the train."

James laughed. "I always wondered why you didn't call. Ok, now, let's be properly introduced. I'm-" 

A loud crack cut off his next words, as lightning flashed down near them, and it started raining heavily. 

Letting out a hiss of irritation, James grabbed Lily's hand and they ran to an overhanging rock escarpment that sheltered them from the rain and the worst of the winds. 

"Bad luck huh? For it to happen now," James said as he stared out at the rain. "It'll probably be over soon, this looks like a normal spring rain. We'll just have to wait this one out."

Lily peered into the rain over his shoulder. "I can't wait! Oh no! I need to get back into the castle now!"

James looked at the sky, which was rapidly starting to darken. "It is kind of late now. Damn. I've got to go too! My friends will maul me when I get back. Well, I'm off."

James made to ran out, but Lily tugged him back. "Quick, you have a C-Globe don't you?"

"Yea," he replied hurriedly.

"Your number?"

The hurriedly exchanged strips of paper, and ran off into the rain, each running their separate way, Lily going right, and James heading left. 

(Hmm, I was wondering if I should stop now, but hey, I'm not. Yea, I decided that since I might not update anytime soon, I might as well write something longer. This is kinda short.)

~~

James entered his head rooms, and he looked up to find Sirius, Remus and Peter seated in the couches. 

"Where the hell did you go huh?" Sirius asked angrily, holding James wand. "I know you can take care of yourself, but you can be real stupid at times, and you were gone such a long time, and didn't take your wand with you. What were we expected to think?" 

"I'm fine Padfoot! Really, I am. See, I'm standing here, I'm not dead yet," James said. He crossed over the room and sank into the couch beside his friends. "I went to Hogsmeade, here I got you guys these." He pulled out the deck of cards and tossed them onto the table where his friends pounced eagerly onto them.

"Cool! Is that Holga the Hornets Keeper?" Sirius asked excitedly. "Peter hands off that card, it's mine!"

Peter snatched the card over. "No, it's mine!"

And for a good five minutes, they fought eagerly over the cards. 

"No, why don't I give you the bludger card, and you give me the Ten point card?" Remus whined to Peter.

"No can do, Moony. This card's mine!" Peter declared. 

Then, as one, they seemed to realise that James was being awfully quiet. 

"Prongs?... Prongs?" Sirius asked as concern lit his eyes. 

"Yea?" James asked distantly, allowing a goofy grin to slide on his face as he remembered the days' events.

His three friends did not miss a beat, as realization dawned on all faces.

"Ok, James, what happened?" Sirius asked as he inched closer to his friend.

Suddenly James laughed, startling them into silence. "Padfoot, you're right, for once!" James declared loudly.

"I am? Oh wait.. Of course I am! I've always been right!" Sirius said indignantly.

Remus and Peter laughed. 

"So what's Sirius right about this time?" Remus asked curiously.

"I'm in love!" James said happily, earning strange stares from his friends. "What? Didn't Sirius say that it's a good thing? Well, I've gone and found mine, without Padfoot's help this time, of course," James added dryly. 

Identical evil grins split the other three Marauder's faces.

"Ok Prongs, you can't keep this to yourself, tell us now! Who's the lucky girl?" Peter asked, eyes glinting.

"Oh... err," James looked confused for a moment. "I have no idea exactly."

"You… WHAT?!?!" Sirius yelled with a dumbstruck expression.

"Well, I didn't ask for her name," James replied in irritation.

"Why ever not?" 

"Cause I forgot."

Sirius pretended to faint. "Oh my god, James, how could you not ask for her name? The potential future Mrs. Potter will remain a mystery. Nevermind… so tell us, how's she like?"

James grinned again. "Simply excellent."

"Andd...?" Remus prompted. 

"Well, she has this mightily lovely pair of emerald green eyes that you can just get lost in, and fiery reddish hair, about 5"6? And, she's an angel. The way she acts, and the way she talks, and well... frankly... I like the fact that she didn't have a single inkling of who I was." He said this with some puzzlement on his face. 

"No kidding! Prongs, you've got to stop pulling our leg. No one... **_no one_, doesn't know the Marauders," Peter said. **

Remus didn't say anything, though he looked doubtful, and James knew that while Remus was as egoistical as his other friend, he was fairly certain that the Marauders were immensely well-known. 

However, the one with possibly the biggest head in the lot, Sirius Black, still didn't speak, and he had a frown of concentration on his face. 

"Padfoot, your verdict?" Peter asked expectantly. 

Sirius waved Peter's question aside and focused his currently black and dark blue eyes onto James. "Huge green eyes you say?" James nodded. "Quite pale, but with a natural glow?" Nod. "Red hair down to her waist?"

James opened his mouth. "Sirius, do you know her?"

Sirius again waved his friend aside, with a thoughtful expression on his face. "I've met her," he announced finally. 

"And you didn't tell me?" James cried.

"Well, you didn't want to know at that time, so... I saw no need to," Sirius finished simply.

James shrugged, knowing his friend was right. 

Sirius nodded. "Yea, James _is_ correct. She had no clue of how I was when we met. Well, she literally crashed into me, and there were no time for formalities. I didn't get her name." And he saw James hopeful face fall. "Don't worry James. Someone's bound to have seen her somewhere before, if she's as nice as you described. We'll just have to search for her."

~~

Lily happily sat herself down on her bed, not caring about how wet she was. It could be easily taken care of with a warm bath and a few simple spells. She hummed happily as she stared at the wall, recounting the day's events to every minute detail. 

Outside, it was still pouring cats and dogs, but the rain enclosed her in her own world and she felt safe hearing the sound of raindrops hitting the roof steadily. 

_'Who is he?_' Lily wondered to herself.

~~

"Hey Bella!" Sirius greeted happily as he sat himself down opposite his girlfriend at the Gryffindor table. "Hey Jill!" He smiled at her friend. "I swear you're turning into a Gryffindor."

Bella laughed. "No! My loyalties are with Ravenclaw!" 

Sirius pouted jokingly. James, Remus and Peter joined them at that moment, James hair still dripping hair from the afternoon, and looking even more unkempt than usual.

"James!" Jill exclaimed in astonishment. "What happened?"

Sirius grinned at his friend. "He had a meeting with the future Mrs Potter, and guess what? He forgot to get her name. One wonders why he's one of the smartest in our year eh?" 

James swatted a hand at Sirius, but laughed anyway. "Hey Bella, Jill."

"James."

"So," Sirius asked. "Any of you know a girl about 5"6, red hair, large emerald green eyes?"

Bella looked at Jill, whose eyes widened.

James noticed the expression that flitted across their faces immediately. "What, you know her?" He asked in excitement.

"Yea..." Bella replied, eyes sparkling innocently. "Umm, she has enormously large green misty eyes..."

'Hmmm, that sounds suspicious,' James thought inwardly. 'That girl did not have misty eyes.'

"And, she had limp red hair, which was probably dyed..." Jill continued.

'Limp?' James asked himself.

"Gee, James," Bella said, eyes twinkling with mirth, and she glanced at Jill, who was trying to stuff a fist into her mouth to stop laughing. "I never knew you fancied Professor Trelawnly that much. If you had said so earlier... we could have brought you there... Jill does take Divination, you know?"

A roar of laughter issued from Sirius', Remus' and Peter's mouths as Bella finished her sentence, and people were turning around to look at them, a few girls waving frantically in their direction. 

James glowered at them, barely managing to keep a grin off his face. It was funny, if you thought of it from a different view.

"Good one you two!" Sirius said once he managed to calm himself down enough to speak coherently. 

"Some friend you are!" James retorted jokingly.

Bella and Jill exchanged amused glances, but they turned their attention back to James. 

"But, honestly James, I know why you're so intent on finding her. She isn't like the rest of them. She is positively sweet, and very obviously, beautiful," Jill said. 

James cocked an eyebrow at them. "Oh no! Now this is taking it too far." Still thinking that they were joking. 

"No, James, we're not. We've met. That girl? She's Lily."

Opposite them, James face cracked into an enormous grin. Finding her was going to be a breeze.

                                                                                    ~~~~~~

There! Woohoo! I'm done! Yea, my exams are probably two weeks from being done, so I guess this may be the last chapter I write until they end. But I will write if I find time to do so. I like this chapter. It was quite humorous writing it. 

Well, hope you enjoy it too.

~cube.


	7. And, they can't seem to find each other

~~~  
  
**Turn Left Turn Right.  
  
Chapter 7: And, they just can't seem to find each other.   
**  
----  
  
Disclaimer: Am not J.K. Rowling. Don't sue.  
  
-----  
  
Summary: Two people who are destined to be together, (Lily and James) never meet but are always only a few feet away from each other. They live in bliss, ignorant of others, until one day they chance upon an encounter with each other and realise that their lives have missing pieces in it. They part, but then, are unable to contact each other again, leaving two love- torn teenagers desperately trying to find their other half.  
  
26 November 2003  
  
***  
  
~~~  
  
****

**Squiggles1**: -Lol- I hate those end of term homework!! Aack! Hmmm, this is kinda like Spring, and I suppose sometimes spring is quite cold? Well, I wouldn't really know coz I live somewhere with only two seasons: Hot and Wet, and Hot and Dry. Unfortunate. Well, I jumped a few weeks, so it is now Spring. =) And well, I was going to say that Lily's book was blown into the fountain by the wind, but I just thought of something, a small paragraph to explain the unorthodox movements. It's below... Just before the seventh paragraph starts. And although Lily's book is new, I sometimes have the super annoying experience of it disintegrating after I buy it. Disgusting eh? The yell is from James. He was peeking at her again, and saw the book in the fountain. And, well, as for the C-globe, you'll just have to read on...

**On-fire-for-christ**: It was funny? Hehehe. 

**Darksarchangel**: Hmm… Hahaha, well, I was about to go searching for you! Glad you decided to show up! I can't wait for them to meet too!!

   
**ShorTi**: Hmm... you never know what the –cough- power of love –cough- can do for one's memories. And, yes! I'm sorry!! I know I told you it would be up soon, but, -sigh- here it is. I was having trouble getting into writing mood again. 

**Indiangurl**: Glad you liked the chapter. =)

**Penny_P**: Yay! I'm updating, I'm updating. 

**LJstagflower4e**: Thanks... I was trying to avoid a usual J/L story. Hope I did it correctly. 

**Jillian**: Yep, I did! I liked Gigi Leung, but unfortunately, I didn't really like Takeshi Kaneshiro. What happened with the all Japs are cute belief? –Sighs- But I don't think he really is a Jap is he? 

**A_my_rah**: Yes, I did. Hehe. Well, if you didn't watch the movie, you'll just have to contend with this, although it isn't as good. WAIT! I just thought of something! Are you Singaporean??? _Are you_?? Hmmm, you type like one... But if you're not, well, I'm ranting, please... feel free to ignore. 

**V0xLoS**: I am a Chinese!!! I am! Unfortunately, I positively am clueless about the language. I had to squint at the tiny subtitles too when I was watching the movie (I'm short-sighted and forgot the specs) to understand it. Pathetic aren't I? Well, I think I'm talking nonsense here, so on with the story! 

**WalkingCensure**: Wow! You read all 3 of my works? Hmmm, usually people who read this don't read the other one… But, the gesture is well appreciated! Thanks. 

**Miss_Mags_AK****, Kaye, Fredngeorgegirl, Biz, Phoenix_eyes**: Lol, here's the next update.

  
  


~~~ 

**( Uhh****, this is another view on why the book suddenly and unexplainably dropped into the fountain. Typed especially for Squiggles1. )**

~~~

_"No! Give it back to me!" A high-pitched voice yelled. _

_She was about seven, her windblown hair all over the place and brown eyes flashing furiously. Opposite her stood a boy, about eight, grinning mischievously and clutching a teddy bear in his hand._

_"Nope!"__ He replied smugly. "What are you gonna do about it?"_

_She stomped her foot on the ground, but whipped out a wand, and pointed it triumphantly at him. "I knew Mommy's wand would come in use today!"_

_The boy's eyes widened, but he quickly fumbled around his pockets before drawing out a wand of his own. He smirked at her. _

_"Ooh! You-" The girl cried. She shot a few sparks at him, which he started to deflect. _

_The spell ricocheted off to their left, and they watched in fascination as it lifted a book sitting on the Hogsmeade fountain and dumped it into the water. The pages started to come out of the binding. _

_The pair looked at each other in horror, their animosity forgotten at the moment._

_"**Run!" Both yelled. **_

~~~

**On, on, on with the story! Yea!! **

**–The ants go marching one by one, hoorah, hoorah...-**

~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Well, ok, I know this chapter is later than what I would usually update, but this chapter was particularly difficult for me to write. I tried writing another fic, well, it got blasted. !@#$%^&* So, I'm not allowed to swear, but hey, I'm pissed. Yep, that put me off my writing. I know! There's no excuse, -sigh-. **

**Anyway, if any of you want to read the fic, just drop a review to tell me, including your email address, and I'll send it to you, pronto. **

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yet, a few days later, searches had turned up with neither hide nor hair of the mysterious 'Lily' girl. Evidently, she was going to be harder to find than James initially thought.

"James?" Remus asked in concern. 

James snorted something intelligible at him and blew his nose again, for the fifth time in as many minutes. 

"You ok? You should really go to Madam Pomfrey to get that cold fixed," Remus continued. "And you shouldn't have been running around in the rain that day."

"I'm fine," James said irritably. "I think I just need to rest. I'm going to skip today." Without waiting for a reply, James stalked out of the Great Hall.

Remus shrugged and turned to his two other friends. "No prizes for guessing what-"

He was cut of in mid-sentence by his two friends, as they replied simultaneously. "_Lily_."

*

Lily was sniffling in her chair. She felt terrible, as though someone had trodden a hundred times over her, and worked her so hard she just wanted to lie down on her bed and forget about everything. Sometimes, sickness did that to people. 

She knew she was sick, yet, she couldn't be bothered at all to drag her sick bum over to the Hospital Wing. 

*

James returned to his confines in the Head Room, and sat there thinking. He had even changed his password to avoid his friends from coming to poke around.

'Who is she?' He wondered. 'I haven't even seen her around.'

His hand brushed against something cold, and he looked up to see himself staring at the C-globe, the invention that he had prided himself on, and had barely been used since months ago. Something tickled his memory, something about the C-globe.

It was important, he could tell, and he strained his mind to remember what it was. A throbbing headache started up, but the frown of concentration still creased his face. 

A sudden flash accompanied by a sharp pain in his head, he a flash of the day he had met her. 

*** Flashback ***

_James made to ran out, but Lily tugged him back. "Quick, you have a C-Globe don't you?"_

_"Yea," he replied hurriedly._

_"Your number?"___

*** End Flashback ***

You number... _Your number_... 

"Number!" He jumped up triumphantly and practically leaped over to his wardrobe. "Where is it?" 

(Is it a wardrobe or cupboard or a closet? I'm quite confused here, and would any kind soul please clear this up...)

James stuck half his body into the massive wardrobe and started to throw the clothes around to search for – 

"_Found it_!" A muffled yell issued from within the depths of the wardrobe And he quickly extracted his body, his hand clutching a pair of pants like they were the most valuable pair in the world. 

A hurried search of the pockets revealed nothing. 'No! This can't be happening to me!' And a hand quickly delved into the pocket, digging deeply. 

At long last, a grin split his face, and he withdrew his hand with a tiny crumpled piece of paper in his hand. (think Bruce Almighty. The part where he does the 'ahhhh…' –song of the angel- thing.)

James quickly crossed the space of his bedroom and settled himself on a chair in front of the C-globe,

'_This is it..._' Was his last thought before he opened the fateful piece of paper.

*

"**_NO_**!" Lily shrieked as she unraveled the crumpled piece of paper. "_This isn't_ _happening_!"

She stared down in horror at the piece of paper, crumbling slightly and rough due to the time it spent soaking in the rainwater and in the wash. But, what was the most important was that, right in the centre of the paper, the only thing that remained on it was a large patch of blue-black smudge, the words that had been on it now clearly intelligible.

*

James mechanically moved to flip the paper, hoping against hope that the number was in fact, scribbled on the reverse side. Unfortunately, the only thing that met his eye was the crinkled edges of the paper. He flipped it over again, and the horrible smudge of ink glared smugly up at him, seemingly mocking him. 

*

In a trance, Lily slid down, her back against the wall, until she hit the floor. Her mind frantically repeated the words '_no...no...No!' A coughing fit overtook her, a sign of her worsening health._

*

James practically leapt over his trunk and bed, settling himself onto the chair. 'Hmmm... that's a 'r'… I think it's a 'r',' he thought to himself as he squinted at the paper, his nose almost touching it. 

Without thought, he pulled the keyboard which accompanied the C-globe towards him and typed some illegible thing like _rjkgwhfd. _

The globe remained black, and a mechanically pleasant voice came through – "I'm sorry, this number isn't in use, please try again. –_beep.-_

_Nferbak_...

I'm sorry, this number isn't in use, please try again. –_beep_.-

_Raindrops_? (for once trying something illegible)

I'm sorry, this number isn't in use, please try again. –_beep_.-

_Rainwater_...

I'm sorry, this number isn't in use, please try again. –_beep_.-

.

.

.

.

.

And after hours of trying out different combinations of numbers, sometimes getting people as far away as Diagon Alley, and sometimes getting the same annoying voice of "I'm sorry, this number isn't in use, please try again. –_beep_.-" James was leaning against the back of his chair, his eyes glassy as he stared tiredly at the globe. 

'One more time... I think I'm gonna faint... Maybe it's a number... Hmm... let's see then…'

_22791_.

The globe cleared, and a girls' face stared through. "Hello, this is 22791 fast food-" and was cut off abruptly by James.

"Are you 21931?" He asked, not caring if she was offended. It was getting increasingly harder to think straight. 

"No, this is 22791, fast food centre," the girl said. 

"Oops, wrong number."

*

And at the same moment, Lily was frantically trying the different sorts of number and letter combinations there were. 

Her eyes were streaming, and her nose seemed just about ready to explode into one big mess of mucus. 

"I feel kinda woozy..." 

_22791_.

"Hello, this is 22791-"

Lily cut her off rudely, her eyes were going in and out of focus. "Is this 30126?"

"No, I said, this is 22791-"

"Bye." The globe clouded over, and she stared dismally at it. 

_42405_. 

I'm sorry, this number is not in use, please try again. –beep.-

*

And over at Hogsmead, a waitress stared at the C-globe in annoyance. "People nowadays are just so damn rude! Fancy getting two of the same type of calls in the space of five minutes. This just isn't my day..." Shaking her head, she went on with her job.

*

"Ugghh," James moaned as he slumped over on the table. "I feel weird..."

He trudged over to the bar, and tried to pull open the mini-fridge. 'That's odd... I don't remember it bring so hard to open...' James thought distractedly. 

Giving it a last futile tug, he slumped back onto the chair, and pulled the globe towards him. 

_22791_.

"Hello, can I help you? Oh, it's you again, what do you want?" The waitress asked, staring into the globe. 

"21931?"

"No!"

"Uhh... umm, sorry, what is best for sick people?"

The waitress paused to consider. "Hmm, try the steamed chicken marinated with garlic chilli sauce. Fried stuff isn't exactly good for you right now."

"What else is there?" James asked wearily.

"Well, it comes with mushroom soup and salad."

"Ok, ok, ermm, Hogwarts Head Boys' room." And the globe clouded over. 

*

Meanwhile, Lily was staring at the C-globe. Hmmm…

_22791_. 

"This is-" The waitress said automatically. "Oh, it's you. There's no 39547 or whatever you're looking for here."

Lily nodded slowly. "Ahhh... What's good for sick people?" 

The waitress frowned. "Steamed chicken in garlic chilli sauce and mushroom soup and salad."

"Ok, give me one, at Hogwarts School, Head Girls' room. Oh, and please, just give me the chicken, soup and salad, skip the garlic sauce..." 

*

And at the fast food shop, the waitress pasted two post-it pads side-by-side, one with the number 83665, and the other with the number 82664 on it. 

(Ok, hmmm, this requires an explanation... You see, the C-globe has the username thing, which is like worded names, but it also has another type of identification, which is the numbered identification. And, you can either use the username, or the ID number to contact a person.)

*

Five minutes later, a head popped out of the fire, followed by the body of a girl clad in the uniform of the fast food centre. 

She stared slowly around the space, blinking her eyes several times to get used to the splendor. 'Cool...' Then, she spotted James slumped at the table, his head resting on his hands. 

"Hey, hey!" 

He sat up slowly, and shook his head a few times, and with some difficulty, asked, "Who... are… you?" 

She grimaced and set the food down onto the table. "Here, the stuff you called for, that'll be 10 knuts altogether."

James hand delved into his pocket and fumbled around before he extracted a sickle and tossed it to her. "Keep the change."

She sat down beside him. "So, how come you're here? I thought there'd be school or something?"

James looked at her. "What about you?"

"Me?" She laughed airily, and glanced around yet again. "Me, I've never been to school, you know, I just work."

"Oh, ok, so don't you have like, work to do?" James asked in irritation.

She held up her hands defensively. "Ok, ok! I get your point, geez! I'll just go, anyway, I still have a delivery to make."

James waved his hand disinterestedly while staring at his food. "Show yourself out, the door's somewhere around."

And he tucked into his meal. 'Hmm... it doesn't exactly taste right.' 

*

Lily stared as the fire flared green, then settled and a girl came clambering out. 

"Here, your meal, that'll be 10 knuts."

Lily handed her the knuts and pulled the tray towards her. She sniffed the food for a while. "You're sure this is what I ordered?"

The girl nodded distractedly as she looked around the room, and her eyes widened. 

"Well? Don't you have to go back to school or something?" Lily asked, staring pointedly at her. 

The girl shrugged. "I don't attend lessons."

"Oookay, but, can you leave me alone? Please? I'm not really feeling quite well."

The girl glared at her, but left, and Lily began to eat. After her first bite, she spat the whole lot out. 'What the hell is this stuff anyway?' She looked closely at the chicken. 'I hate garlic chilli!'

*

A day later, James drifted in and out of sleep, his nose now resembling a ripe tomato. The fire crackled and turned green, and someone scrambled out of it. 

"Ww-Who're you?" He asked rudely, slurring the words together. 

"Remember? I'm Joy!" The girl said.

The look on James face stated clearly that he did not know who this Joy was.

"You know, the one who brought you your meal the other time?"

"Ahh... So, what are you doing here?"

"I came to see how you were doing. Evidently, not great." She sniffed in disapproval as she surveyed the room. "How long has it been since you last cleaned this dump?" 

James shrugged. 

"Oh well, I'll be getting to work then."

She set about, picking up piles of dirty clothes and sending them to the wash, and straightening stuff in his room. 

"What are you doing?" James asked as he watched her run around the room.

"Looking after you, of course!" She looked at him with 'duh' kind of expression on her face. "What does it look like."

"Well, you're invading my privacy!" James exclaimed weakly.

She shrugged. "You can't even look after yourself." And she resumed cleaning, while muttering stuff under her breath like. "Honestly, he should have someone looking after him" and "But I don't mind. I mean, he is cute…"

James slumped back onto the bed, and he fingered the C-globe that was under his blanket. He felt someone come up to his bed, and the C-globe was snatched out of his hand. "Geez! What is it with you? Don't tell me you're still looking for 82947 or whatever her name was?"

James didn't reply, but instead snatched the globe back.

"Who is she, by the way?" The girl asked, looking at him curiously. "Lost love?"

James shrugged. "She's someone amazing I met, now I can't seem to find her."

"Well, you've got me..." The girl said softly, a flush appearing on her cheeks. 

James stared at her. "Excuse me?" 

"Well... oh, never mind, you didn't even hear a single word I said, did you?" The girl said, her expression indignant. "Well, I have to go for work now... I'll drop by sometime later ok?"

James nodded wearily. "Show yourself out." And he slumped back onto his bed. 

The girl watched him for a moment as he slept, and she quickly bent down to kiss him before she left. 

She watched James smile and murmur a soft "Lily" beneath his breath as he slept.

'Whoever this Lily is, I'll get him to forget her in no time...'

*

Lily slept fitfully, trapped in her own dreams, and often waking up to feel sweat pouring down her forehead. 

*** Dream ***

_Lily ran through an open field under a twinkling night sky, searching, shouting, for what, she didn't know. All she knew was that if she did not find the thing she was looking for, something terrible would happen. _

_She looked up just in time to see a flash of white pass by the corner of her sight, and she set into a sprint after it. The thing – was seemed to be no other word to describe it at that moment – was majestic and danced through the grove of fairy trees near the edge of the clearing. _

_And yet, however, every time she ran, it seemed to be drawing further in front of her. She stopped to catch her breath, and the scenery around her shifted seamlessly as the colours of the surroundings melted into one another. _

_There, it was eternal twilight and she saw ages past in front of her very eyes, and ages that had not yet come to pass. The universe sped by, and the dark twinkling changed again. She appeared in the middle of a small opening, the night sky high above her. _

_Then, a white stag came cantering into view, where it stopped right in front of her, and bowed down. Lily lifted a trembling hand to touch the patch of black adorning its forehead. It was a stag. _

_She met its gaze, and an overwhelming sense of peace overcame her. And, she was sure, that this animal was the answer to her problems. It started to change, the antlers and front legs becoming shorter and stood upright. _

_Lily waited in tense anticipation, waiting to see what it would become. Already, in her mind, she could picture it as that mysterious boy that she had met eleven years past, and just recently, on the same day. She was sure that once the stag morphed, the key to finding him would come clear. _

_Then, in a mind-boggling swirl of colours, it became black. _

*** End ***

And Lily woke, tears streaming down her eyes, for, it always ended like this, and not once, had she seen what it had turned into. 

And she clutched the C-globe tighter to her. 

**(Hmmm, read the author's note below... Please?)**

~~~~~~~~

Ahh, well, it's up finally. And as I said before, this was a hard chapter for me to write. I hope it's up to expectations. Ahh well, the next chapter will be out soon, I hope. 

_Ok! I guess you will want to know this, I promise, the next chapter will be better. I will make it work, cause I have to apologize for the lack of enthusiasm for this chapter on my part. I'm really sorry if this didn't meet up to your expectations, since all of you have been extremely supportive of this fic, for which I'm eternally grateful. But, yes, I know, as an author, there's no excuse for a lousy chapter. I'm sorry. _

__

Well, nothing much happened in this chapter, ummm, ok, next chapter I'll probably have some Sirius-Bella action?? I have no idea. 

Well, there's going to be another ball, and Bella and Jill meet Lily again. 

And for those of you reading my other 2 stories, there's gonna be out soon. I promise, very soon! I'm already about halfway through Chapter 5 of Just Another Sappy Love Story! 

~cube


	8. A Hospital Mishap

~~~

**Turn Left Turn Right.******

**Chapter 8: A Hospital Mishap. **

----

Disclaimer: Am not J.K. Rowling. Don't sue.

-----

**Summary**: Two people who are destined to be together, (Lily and James) never meet but are always only a few feet away from each other. They live in bliss, ignorant of others, until one day they chance upon an encounter with each other and realise that their lives have missing pieces in it. They part, but then, are unable to contact each other again, leaving two love- torn teenagers desperately trying to find their other half.

7 December 2003

***

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Squiggles1**: You have no idea how much I want the other seasons. Well, it's now the hot and wet season. !@#$%^&* You live in Montreal? I love that place!!! Ok, well, maybe what I saw was only a teeny part of it, but I loved it all the same. It was supposedly summer then, but the temperatures were about 19oC. Anyway, thanks for your vote of confidence. Hmm, do you know what a Beta is by the way? Oh, and there will be more than one evil character! Read on! And, I'm sure you'll be a great writer, since you seem committed to it. I mean, getting books on writing? –WOW- I must be a lazy bum. 

**Darksarchangel**: Everyone told me it was kind of confusing!!! AAHHH!! Ok, I'm weird, don't mind me!

**ShorTi**: Thank you! I may try posting it again sometime. Well, in that story Lily is a transfer student who shakes James out of his misery. It is kind of love-hate, cos James hated Lily the first time he met her, as she reminded him of his old girlfriend. 

**Indiangurl**: Thanks lots! 

**LJstagflower4e**: Thanks a lot! 

**Livewithit**: Whoo! Thank you! Well, hopefully you read this. 

**Fulldark**: Yep! I realized that mistake too!

**Lily1234**: Hmm, there will be no chapter with only Sirius and Bella. I think you misunderstood. Oh well. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next two days gone and the James yet remained locked up in his retreat into the Head Rooms. 

Sirius slammed the table in anger. His two friends looked at him, faces drawn, for it wasn't usual that this Marauder would throw away his easy-going, crazy exterior in exchange for one so... errmm, well, serious. 

Remus surveyed his friend. "Breakfast's not yet over. There is still time for him to join, you know?" 

Peter nodded slightly in agreement, but his eyebrows had sunk in a deep frown. 

Sirius looked at Remus, and raised a dark eyebrow by a fraction. Anyone who didn't know him would think him calm, and well, his usual self. But, for the two present, the stormy dark blue eyes, and white clenched fists spoke volumes for themselves. "Will he?" He asked in a tight voice not characteristic to himself. 

Remus shrugged, knowing that his friend was right. "I suppose not." And as he saw his friends' eyes darken until a midnight blue, he hurried to change the topic. "So, where's Bella huh?"

"Yea, where's Bella?" Peter echoed Remus' words quickly, so as to appease his friend further. 

Sirius bad mood lightened as his eyes drifted over to the Ravenclaw table, and looked back, with a faint smile on his face, softening the intimidating aura he had sent out a few moments ago. "Oh, she decided to be a Ravenclaw today. Sad huh..." 

Peter laughed. "And I would have thought that Sirius would have had her transferred over to Gryffindor by now... Well, it's almost time for Transfiguration. We better hurry along. Wouldn't want to imagine McGonagall." He grimaced and stood up, stretching slightly, his 6"1 frame towering over the other two who were still seated. 

Remus let a smile lift the corner of his lips. "Do you even care about being late?" 

Peter grinned. "Nope, you got me there. But, if I have to listen to her 'bloody marauders' holler one more time, I swear..." he trailed off, but everyone got the idea all the same. 

"Okay, one Sirius, coming up. I wouldn't want to be the one who tells McGonagall James isn't coming again," he muttered, a shadow passing his face. "All the same, let's just look for him after lessons." And he brightened. 

The two stood up, and together, the trio sauntered over to the entrance, attracting smiles from all around. As they crossed the Great Hall, their numbers swelled as people started joining them, all looking up to the three in blatant adoration. 

Remus quirked a slight smile onto his face for a brief moment, the only sign of him acknowledging his throngs of fans. But his brows were slightly furrowed, as he tuned himself to block out the incessant chatter of the girls. His bored indifference was apparent on his face, and try as they might, neither of the girls could get him to open up.

Sirius and Peter, on the other hand, were basking in the glory. But, it was of two different kinds. Sirius smiled apologetically as he weaved his way as best as possible over to the Ravenclaw table where he offered a hand to Bella, and the girls slowly flitted away, throwing looks of utmost enviousness at her. Peter grinned and walked slowly with his friends, as the only 'available' member of the group, but he shrugged them off at the door, and, together, the five made their way to the Transfiguration classroom. 

"Ladies first," Sirius said smoothly as they reached the polished oak door, and he held the door open for them. 

But, McGonagall, her ability to tolerate lateness extended to only the two Ravenclaw girls, and as the three stepped through the doors, a blast, and halfway down the corridor, it could be heard... "_YOU BLOODY MARAUDERS! THIS ISN'T THE FIRST, AND I DOUBT, WILL BE THE LAST TIME I'VE CAUGHT YOU LATE... **LATE IN THIS CLASS, YOU HEAR ME**_?" 

And back in the classroom, where everyone was shrinking as far as possible into their seats, Sirius, Remus and Peter were mouthing along with her for they had the whole speech memorized by heart. McGonagall saw this and her eyes darkened even further. And, unfortunately, this was when that Sirius decided to open his mouth. Sirius straightened up and replied, rather brightly, "of course we've heard you Professor, who wouldn't?"

McGonagall swelled like a balloon. "Detention Black, she replied in clipped tones. " And her eyes passed over them. "And where, pray tell, is Potter?" 

All eyes turned to Remus, who groaned. "Do I have to?" He hissed under his breath.

"Yea," Peter replied in equally soft tones. "You drew the shortest straw."

McGonagall was now positively fuming. "IS THERE ANYTHING TO SAY? DETENTION, LUPIN, PETTIGREW, AND TELL POTTER THAT WHEN HE COMES BACK, HE'LL HAVE HIS HIDE SKINNED AND HUNG UP ON MY DOOR!" She roared. "Get to your seats, and one more disturbance from you three and I will be forced to take drastic action."

"Well, that saves the trouble of explaining," Remus breathed as he walked to his desk. 

"LUPIN! WHAT DID I SAY?" McGonagall yelled from behind.

"_Yes Professor_," came a bored voice.

*

Lily sat in a chair, her eyes glazed over as she stared at an unseen spot on her wall. She sniffled again, and automatically pulled a tissue and blew her nose. She hadn't left her room in about a week, and the House Elves were staying away too, as they did not enter while anyone was around. The place looked a mess, and she looked worst for the wear sitting in the middle of what one could call a miniature garbage dump. 

*

James sat, slumped at the table, holding the C-globe in front of him, but not doing anything. A throbbing headache was making a nice pounding within his skull. With reluctance, he pulled himself out of the chair. 

"Hospital Wing please," he said, amidst cough and sniffles. 

The black cleared to show the white polished tiles of the Hospital Wing. 

"Hogwarts Hospital Wing, state your purpose," a brisk no-nonsense voice asked.

"Uhh... Really sick idiot at Head Boys Room, help," he replied feebly and the ball returned back to its former murky black. 

And he slumped back onto the table. 

*

Lily was startled out of her reverie when a note suddenly popped into existence beside her hand. 

_To whoever it may concern:_

Call for assistance answered at 1407 hours, please take hold of specified object to be transported over to said destination. 

_No: 745H _

_Destination: 555I Hogwarts, Hospital Wing. _

'That's odd... I didn't ask for assistance whatsoever. Could be Dumbledore,' she thought with a shrug and took hold of the note.

In an instant, Lily was not to be found at her room. 

*

'What is taking them such a long time to arrive?' James wondered as he awoke from his short slumber to read the clock. 'I called 10 minutes ago.'

*

Joy hummed merrily as she stepped through the fireplace to a room that she had come to know rather well these past few days. 

And she saw slumped on the table, one very disoriented looking boy. 

"That's it!" She snarled. "You're going to the Hospital Wing now! Whether you like it or not!"

'He must be really sick. He isn't even kicking up a protest,' she thought worriedly to herself. 

"Wait."

She looked questioningly at him. 

He turned to the C-Globe. "Activate voice box storage."

She made a sound of frustration in the back of her throat. "Still looking for her? Give it up already."

*

Lily arrived in the entrance of the Hospital Wing, looking none too frazzled beside her sick self. The portkeys used in the school were of the best quality and transporting around was usually without the whirling feeling that so characterized the other portkeys. She leaned against the wall as a sudden bout of nausea caused the room to swim in and out of focus. 

"Ah, you're here," Madam Pomfrey said as she bustled into the entrance room. "It's you?" She asked, disbelief showing on her face. "Oh well, come along in then."

She took Lily's arm to stable her before leading her into the interior of the Wing and onto one of the beds. 

"Ok, you just lie there for a while, I have business to see to outside the school, but don't worry, my assistant will be dropping by shortly," Pomfrey told her and walked away. 

Lily sighed and leant back onto the fluffy pillows, and before long, sleep claimed the petite red-head and she drifted off into a fitful mirage of dreams. 

*** Dream ***

_She was running through that same open field, and the stag came running through her sight of vision. She started following it, but every time she reached the boundary of the trees, she would just come back to where she had started at. (its like a loop) _

_Then, it faded to black. And when the scene changed, she found herself face to face with the stag. Except that it didn't seem to be a stag anymore. It's face was grossly mutilated, and an evil sneer graced its features. It started to charge at her, lowering its antlers as if wanting to strike her. Lily curled up into a ball, and a small shriek escaped her lips. _

_When she looked up, it was black again, and the scene changed. _

_She was back at Hogsmeade, waiting for the boy, as she knew he would come. It was the same fountain where they met that fateful day, but as she waited, nothing appeared. One last time, she turned around and she came face to face with one Lucius Malfoy. He sneered at her. "Well hello, Mudblood." And then, he eased his wand out of his pocket and pointed it at her. _

_Mudblood... Mudblood... The word echoed hollowly in her mind and again, everything faded to a dull black. _

_She turned around and found herself face to face with Bella and Jill. They smirked at her. "Honestly, do you thing we would even like you?" Then, they became the boy she met in Hogsmeade. "I don't even want to know you... Did you think I would actually like someone like you? You've got to wake up..." _

_Wake up..._

*** End ***

And she awoke. 

"Wake u-" a voice above her called. "Oh, good, you're awake."

She shot up so suddenly that her head collided with something rather solid, and sent an excruciating wave of pain through her head. 

"Ouch!" Two voices said simultaneously. 

"Now... Do I know you?" The person asked. 

Lily looked up at the person standing over her. 

His eyes widened. "LILY? What are you doing here?" 

"I go to school here, obviously. Who are you anyway?" He looked... oddly familiar, and a disconcerting feeling settled in Lily's stomach. If she wasn't wrong... This could be bad. 

"Remember me, I'm Alex!" He said loudly and extremely enthusiastically and stared at her. 

Lily groaned, and placed her head into her hands. _Alex the idiot... Alex the sickening guy... Alex, the one she knew from her Muggle school... Alex the irritating one that always followed her around... Alex who beat up any guy she talked to... The same Alex who had an immensely huge crush on her... _

It was definitely bad. 

"I think I'm gonna be sick," Lily mumbled to herself.

Unfortunately, the idiot took her groan as one of sickness, and not one of frustration. "Of course you're sick, look at you. Nevermind, I'll take extremely good care of you."

"I didn't know you were a wizard," Lily offered feebly. 

He nodded self-importantly. "I was just as surprised when I found out! Well, I went to Salem. You know Salem's schooling takes a faster time to complete, so now I'm working as a Healer. Wow! It's such a wonderful surprise to see you here Lily," he said, eyes sparkling brightly. 

'_Not wonderful for me though_,' Lily thought to herself, then out loud she said, "can you fix me up in a jiffy? I'm sure that's what Madam Pomfrey would do. I don't think I can stand to stay here any longer."

"Nonsense!" He replied airily. "You're gonna have to stay here until I'm absolutely certain that you're fine. Under my tender, loving care, you'll surely get well soon. Then you will see me as your savior and then..." he trailed off, day-dreaming. 

'_Oh no_!'

"Now, you just be a good girl and get back to sleep." He patted her on the head. 

"Wait!" Lily exclaimed as he turned to leave. 

He turned back, a smile gracing his features. 

"Yes, Lily dearest?" He asked in a sickeningly sweet voice. 

She grimaced painfully, but decided to ignore the certain feeling of hexing him to the end of the universe. 

"Could you bring me my C-Globe, it's in my dorm. Just keep turning right at every corridor you reach and you'll get there eventually. The password's _twinkle toes_. And you better don't do anything funny while you're there," she threatened. 

He waved her threat away lightly. "Ok, anything for you _my sweet."_

Lily blanched, as she recognised the same phrase to be used by that dratted caretaker, Filch, whenever he called for his even more dratted scrawny pet cat, the ever hateful, Mrs Norris.  

He exited the Wing, and Lily slumped back onto the bed, falling asleep almost instantly. 

And there came a loud yell. 

*

Joy helped James to the Hospital Wing, his arm slung over her shoulder and, by some luck, managed to avoid any teachers or students. 

She raced into the Wing, and collided head on with someone coming out of it. 

"Watch where you're going," she snapped impatiently.

"Who're you?" A rude male voice asked.

"Get lost, I'm trying to save someone here," Joy yelled.

"Well, you can't go in there until I give you permission, I'm the Healer in charge here temporarily."

Joy looked at his name tag. "Well, Mister ahh, Alex Whipple, you better shove your bloody fat arse aside and let me in this moment or I'll make you regret it!"

Alex narrowed his eyes at her. "What makes you think you can just push me around!"

Joy shoved James in front of her. "He's sick damn you! Aren't you supposed to help sick people?" She peeked around him at the Wing. "And, why is it that the girl there is able to get in? This is a scandal I tell you! Wait till I get hold of the Headmaster here, and you'll be sorry you ever crossed paths with Joy Redknapp!" She half-yelled.

Alex pulled himself out self-importantly. "That's different. She's on the brink of death and she needs my tender care!" He retorted with a sickly sweet smile on his face. 

Joy shoved James against the wall, and strode into the Wing to check on the girl. "On the brink of death my arse! She's just having a flu! The same as this boy here, and it is important that you treat him NOW! He's much more important than that girl over there! See! He's even more sick than her!"

"THAT IS ENTIRELY UNTRUE!" Alex bellowed. 

"Fine! Where is the Headmaster's office?" Joy yelled at James.

Alex visibly whitened. "Oh, fine! But it's only because it's my duty to help those in need. He can come in, but he'll be gone in a jiffy! I tell you! This is plain unfairness! Is this not the free world anymore? Alex ranted. "Why is it that in this age I am still forced to do things?"

But Joy and her 'patient' had gone, and he found himself talking into air. She tossed a sentence over her shoulder. "Shove it up your arse buster, there's no time for this!"

She led him past the girls' bed, and noted with some jealousy that the girl was miles prettier than her, even with her looking sickly. And, what she didn't know, was that if James was half as sick as he was at that moment, he would have jumped out of her grip and to the side of that girl. But as it was, he was too sick to even keep his eyes open, and was walking in staggering steps to wherever Joy was leading him to. 

Alex strode out of the Wing once he saw to it that the boy was on the bed. 

"WAIT!" A voice screeched from behind him, and he turned around only to find that Joy was barreling towards him.

He flashed an annoyed expression at her. "Stop shrieking like a freaking banshee! There are people trying to rest here! And what the hell do you want now?"

Joy gestured rapidly to the boy. "You have got to do something about him now, you pompous nitwit!"

"No!"

"WHY NOT?"

"I'm on an errand now, now let go of my hand and let me do this. The faster I'm done means the faster your boyfriend leaves..." He looked expectantly at her hand. "For the good of everyone," he muttered under his breath as he left the Wing. 

*

And as he was gone, Joy walked around the ward. Apart from the girl she had seen just now, there was no one else in the Wing. And, she saw, something that she had missed on her first inspection, was that it was the girl she had delivered the food to on the same day she met with James. 

And, even thought she did not go to school, Joy was no half-wit. _Both with flu at the same time?... Both ordering the same kind of food?… The possibilities were endless_. What if...

And she was interrupted from her thoughts as Alex came running into the Wing. She hurriedly stepped out of the way, and he came towards the girls' bed, and shook the girl half-awake.

"My dear, I'm extremely sorry. I couldn't get your C-globe off the table. The magic wards that you placed around it prevented me from removing it." 

The girl groaned. "Then break the wards!" She exclaimed feebly.

"Well," he said pompously. "I did install an answering machine, so that it could tape all the messages that you missed. Am I good or am I good?"

The girl shrugged. "I suppose it's good enough."

"Now..." the guy suddenly got a maniacal gleam in his eyes. "How about my reward? A kiss or two? Maybe a date? Hmm...?"

He leant in towards her. 

"_Aack_!___ Noo!! MOVE AWAY!!" The girl protested weakly. _

Joy coughed. "What do you think you're doing huh? Can you come and tend to James now?" She glowered at him, and gestured towards the occupied bed. 

*

Lily lifted her head off the bed, and caught a peek of messy hair behind the half-closed curtains, and a certain nagging feeling gnawed at the back of her brain. 

'_The hair does look familiar... Hmmm..._'

But, she was utterly exhausted as she leant back into the soft pillows, to just watch the Wing. The other girl turned towards her, and Lily mouthed a small '_Thanks_' to her. 

She nodded in acknowledgement. _Anytime...__ And she disappeared around the curtain, closing it behind her, and obstructing Lily's view of the boy._

*

_Mmmm__...Lily made a sound of happiness as she stepped through the portrait hole and into her Head Room. 'It's so good to be home. Thank my lucky stars that Madam Pomfrey came back,' she thought to herself. _

The past two days in the Hospital Wing hadn't exactly been enjoyable. Alex had insisted on giving her some traditional Chinese herbs and things that tasted so vile that she had thrown up a more than a few times during her stay. 

'Honestly! _Bear's Bile_ as a medicine? Even Potions are not as bad! Thank goodness I'm not Asian!" (Its true! My grandmother bought that! She claims it clears out toxins in the body o_O) But, fortunately, Pomfrey had returned just yesterday, and Alex had left. After some of Madam Pomfrey's lengthy check-ups and some Potions, she was free to go.

'Hopefully that will be the last time I see Alex ever!' She thought absently to herself. Then, another thought edged cross her mind, it was one of annoyance. 'Hey! How come the guy that came in after me could go home after the first day?!'

But as she stepped through the entrance hall to the first floor of her rooms, she froze. _Something was not quite right here_...

(Well, you might want to read it, it doesn't have anything mighty important, but it does show a peek – a very small peek – at the plots of the subsequent chapters.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, Chapter 8 is up! Finally! Whoo! I thought I would have it up later than this, but well, I got a spark, and well, this is it. I hope it's fine. I LIKED THIS CHAPTER. 

It shows the introduction of another one of the somewhat main character: _Alex Whipple. _Seriously, I think this guy has big problems, but that was the way I wanted to portray him. Him and Joy have a quite major part in this story. 

Well, the promised Sirius-Bella action didn't appear in this chapter as I said, but the first scenario is kind of a Marauder and the two girls scene. Anyway, I found a suitable place for the final Sirius-Bella scene, which I promise, will be the sweetest thing. Well, there will also be another dance coming up, and there will be another part where Bella and Jill meet Lily again. Also, I have sort of written out their graduation. I can't wait until I post it. I think you'll love it as much as I did. 

And, I'm fairly certain that the story will be wrapped up in probably a few chapters. Though I have no idea how many chapters, but I have planned out the plots of the other chapters, so I'll just go along as I write.  

And, yes, thank you for some of the rather encouraging reviews. Hmm, you didn't think it was bad? Thanks a lot. Maybe I'll try to post it onto the net again. When I do, could anyone please drop by and well, give me a few comments on how it is... 

~cube


	9. An Irritating Alex

~~~

**Turn Left Turn Right.******

**Chapter 9: An Irritating Alex. **

----

**Disclaimer**: Am not J.K. Rowling. Don't sue.

-----

**Summary**: Two people who are destined to be together, (Lily and James) never meet but are always only a few feet away from each other. They live in bliss, ignorant of others, until one day they chance upon an encounter with each other and realise that their lives have missing pieces in it. They part, but then, are unable to contact each other again, leaving two love- torn teenagers desperately trying to find their other half.

17 December 2003

***

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Squiggles1:** Yea, I do live in Singapore. Anyway, who could you guess? You've been here before? Actually, 28oC is like what we consider, a rather cool temperature. Sad, huh? But anyway, the temperatures are relatively cooler now since it's the rainy season. Well, sad to say, my house is now leaking from the heavy rain. If it shorts out my com, the update will come a bit late. (hehehe)  
And, taking heed from your Joy's un-joyfulness, I am going to add in an evil plot concerning her. But it won't be in this chapter though.   
No!! It's not a cliffie! Was it? Hmm I didn't know I left I cliff til I started getting reviews of having my head for the cliff there. Ahahaha! Anyway, read on, read on. What comes after the cliff is, umm, hilarious in a funny and sick way!  
Ahaha! I thought I would have this chapter out later. You know how I update, two chapters then a long pause until I get the next chapter done. Anyway, it's done earlier than I expected! So cheerio.. I feel accomplishment.   
Oh, yes, I'm working on the passage-way! Watch out for it, though not in this chapter.  
And, McGonagall was rather angry at James, cause it wasn't the first time in recent days that he cut class!

**ShorTi**: Oh you know me too well! You know me too well! You will find out why in later chapters!

**Indiangurl**: Oh, man! Why are there so many Alex-like people running around the face of the earth??? Nooo!!! They can't do this to us! Hmm, well, I suppose guys are probably lamenting the existence of Joy-like people too! Haha! We can't complain!

**LJstagflower4e**: Oops? They just missed again? Ahahaha!

**LimeJuiceTub**: Hmm, I assume you like my other story better yea? Eh, I mean, Lily was sick at that time, so she just took hold of the port-key, and James was well, resting on his own!

**Juxtaposed**: Okok! I will put in more of them. Hmm, maybe I'll have some stuff of them in the next few chapters? And, never mind being a new reviewer. Hmm, just don't forget to read the later chapters. 

**Jac**: Ok! Glad you liked my story so much that you'd request it as a birthday present! Well, here it is, I only just read your review today, which is Tuesday, so I'm now up in the middle of the night slogging to get this done for you. Hopefully you read it on your birthday, (HAPPY BIRTHDAY) if not, well, Happy Belated Birthday! Oh I suppose it will be Thursday by the time you read this. Darn! I was hoping to get it up on Wednesday, but I can't use the com now!!

**Penny_P**: No!!! It wasn't a big cliffie! Hmm, anyway, the next chapters here already. Don't kill me for what comes after the cliff! And I didn't really leave one this chapter. 

**MerlinHalliwell**: Great that you like it.

**Hinkypunk2**: Yea! You obviously don't like Joy. Hey! Who does when she tries to steal OUR James?? Anyway, there is some major Joy-bashing in this chapter! And, don't kill me!!! 

**Bec**: Wow! How did you manage to find my story? I mean, it's not exactly very recently updated. Not that I'm complaining though, and thanks!

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lily stared in horrified fascination around the room, the state of which was not what it had been when she had left. In fact... it was much, much worse. Clothes were strewn all around the place, and posters of her favourite soccer team Manchester United had been taken down and piled messily into a corner. Now gracing the walls were posters of another team that she absolutely couldn't stand as well as... pictures of herself smiling into the camera. Some were muggle photos that were taken ages ago, and some were moving wizard shots that shown her lying on the Hospital Wing bed, looking pale and a little green. As she walked into the room, her right foot caught the edge of an object, and she glanced down to look at it. Her eyes, if possible, widened even further. There, lying oh-so-innocently at her feet were a pair of dark brown heavy hiking boots, something that she knew for certain did not belong to her, but instead to a certain...

"There you are!" A voice cried out from the second floor. 

Lily tore her eyes slowly away from the pair of shoes, and as though in a trance, let her eyes drift upwards to land on the person's protruding head. 

"_YOU_?!" Although she had already expected this, the shock of seeing him there caused Lily's mouth to drop open in surprise. 

"Me!" The person said happily.

"Aah!" Lily yelped in surprise. "What are you doing?" 

"Me?" He looked down at himself. "I'm at home of course! You're finally back!" 

And there, was Alex's head poking out of the second floor room. 

"Home?" Lily blanched. "Yes, me! But, you? Here?"

"Yep!" He replied happily. "Aren't you glad?"

And, Lily, with sarcasm dripping in abundance replied. "Yep! –nod- Boy, am I glad. –nod- _Absolutely... umm... glad." _

He smiled widely, evidently not picking up the sarcasm or choosing not to pick it up. "Absolutely fantastic! Look what I did to - "

Lily tuned him out for a while as she thought inwardly, 'oh, he's dense! What am I going to do?' And she groaned to herself. She looked up to realise that Alex was still not done talking. 

"-and I figured that it was normal that I moved here to stay with you!"

"Umm... _Normal? How so?"_

Alex looked at her, confusion etched onto his features. "_Why? Lily, you don't know?"_

Lily shook her head slowly. 

His mouth opened in surprise, as he stared down at her. "Us getting married_, of course_! What else could I be talking about? I mean, so we can get to know each other better before the wedding! I mean, we've been apart for so long, and it is absolutely necessary to catch up on the things we missed out on before! You don't mind, do you? Oh, I mean it isn't too soon right?"

Lily's mouth dropped lower and lower at each word, and by the time he finished, her mind was in a state of shock, nearly amounting to panic. 

"Mind?" She asked shrilly. 

Alex nodded with an air of pomposity around him. 

"Mind?" She exclaimed, her voice slightly higher than before. "_Mind?... Mind? You ask me if I mind? You staying here? Mind! I've never heard the like before!"  _

He nodded again. "Of course, it's a totally original plan! You love it don't you? Oh, and Lily dear, kindly lower your voice. It's hurting my delicate ear-drums and well, raising your voice isn't good for your health! You have to be in excellent condition if you want to give birth to perfect babies!" He said happily. 

"Babies?... Babies?! You have got to be kidding me! You're joking, aren't you?" Lily asked, her voice shrill due to slight anger and panic. 

"Nope, I'm absolutely serious!" He said lightly.

"Yes I absolutely love it," Lily said dryly and extremely sarcastically, that even a sponge would have ballooned with all the sarcasm it absorbed. 

"I knew you would love it!" Alex replied happily. "Great, we can start planning the wedding tonight!"

Lily felt her face heat up in anger and her fists balled up and held stiffly to her sides. 

'_Ok, calm down Lily! Calm down! It isn't like you to get angry... Calm down and we'll sort this out nice and proper!' Lily thought inwardly to herself. '_Am I calm? Yes, I'm calm! Ok, breathe! 1...2...1...2... Ok!'__

"Alex?" She looked up but saw nothing except the slightly ajar door. The scum had gone into the bedroom. (Ok! I know Lily won't say that, but that was from my point of view. He is irritating isn't he? Anyway, not to fear, there will be more things to come when the Marauders get hold of him... I think...)

Muttering under her breath, the anger evidently still present despite her tries to keep it down, she looked around the room, and set about restoring the room to its original state, thinking with relief that she would not have to confront him until sometime later. 

She waved her wand and the posters of Chelsea FC flew down to heap in a corner and be replaced by the original Manchester United player posters. Another wave of her wand cleared up any mess that had been present on the floor and sent them flying into the magical bin, and the last wave of her wand carefully stored Alex's filthy boots in an obscure little corner hidden from view behind the door- stand and coat room. 

Then, steeling herself for worse to come, Lily stepped onto the moving staircase. At the top, she curled a finger around the doorframe and pulled it back slightly. The smell of moldy cheese and smelly socks wafted out of the crack to greet her, and she pinched her nose shut to block out the stench. Opening the door further, Lily stepped gingerly into the room, and looked around furtively. 

'Great...' She mused to herself. 'I have to sneak around my own room like some_ thief!'_

But the parts of the room that were in view was clear. She stepped further into the room, and looked quickly around, and heaved a relieved sigh when the check of the room revealed it empty. 

With that, Lily quickly set about putting the room right. One wave of her wand returned the room to its original flowery smell, eliminated the need of nose-pinching, and removed any rubbish lying around. (which was a lot) Next went the stash of guys clothes and the numerous Chelsea posters. Finally, with much disgust, the wedding planners and baby-care pamphlets went into the bin. 

The sound of the bathroom door opening caused Lily to turn around. 

"AAAHHHHH!!!!!"

*

James walked down the Hogsmeade street, staring in extreme fascination at the old cobblestones.

'_Hmmm... that makes ten round ones and twenty reddish-brown ones... Oh, what's that...? Oh, change that to twenty-one reddish-brown ones... Enlightening, isn't it?' He wondered dryly to himself. _

Walking beside him was a girl with mousy brown hair and dark brown eyes, who was chattering away incessantly. 

"-and then I told him to fuck off – "

James winced as he heard the words out of the girls' mouth. It was one thing when a guy said it, but an entirely different thing when a girl used it so freely. "Mind your language Redknapp," he said aloud, then under his breath muttered, "I'm sure _Lily_ wouldn't have done that..."

If she heard his first sentence, she certainly didn't seem to take heed, but the second sentence made her stop short in her tracks and turned to him. 

"_Lily... Lily... **LILY!" She ranted. "Is that all you care about? **__Lily? I tell you! Forget her already! Who the hell is this stupid Lily anyway! I can be better than her!"_

James rolled his eyes. She reached only until his chest and her shouting was having as much effect as an ant was having biting a shoe. 

"Are you done?" He asked suddenly, looking around in evident boredom. Without waiting for a reply, he turned on his heel and stalked down the Hogsmeade oath. 

"Wait!" Joy yelled, stopping her tirade. "Wait for me!"

"No!" James yelled over his shoulder. "I've had just about enough from you! And, if you want to know, Lily is someone, much... _much_ better than you!" 

"Fine!" Joy yelled after his back. "If you think so, why did you come to Hogsmeade with me anyway?"

He stopped and turned to face her, his face a mass of thunderclouds. Then, narrowing his eyes, he spoke with a voice so icy that it made the South Pole sound cold. "To set things straight, Redknapp, -he spat the name out like some poisonous snake- you were the one following me, and not the other way around. Oh, and one more thing?" He said frostily. "What the hell is up with you anyway? Who gave you permission to change the voice box message in my C-Globe? Even with your looks, or even when you lose that horrible language, or just get an entirely new personality, you will still be second-best. Guess who's first? That's right, it's Lily. You'll never be as good as her, as pretty, as intelligent... I could just stand here naming a thousand things she is that you're not, but I won't want to be seen wasting my time with the likes of you." And having said that, he turned and stormed back to the castle. 

'Phew! That was good to get off my chest!' James thought to himself. 

(ok, that might have sounded harsh, but seriously, I felt fantastic writing that! It was as though it was meant to be in the story. Well, it might sound harsh to you, but picturing Joy in my head, I feel that she deserved every single word. Hmm, as for those Joy-haters who found this was not enough to satisfy your killing instincts, there will be another Joy bashing in later chapters. _Cheers_!)

*

Joy stood there, her mind in a state of shock that she had just been shouted at. This had been one of the few times that she had been treated this way, and every time, no one had escaped yelling at her unscathed. Then, the numbness wore off and the words he had used settled in on her.  

... second-best. Guess who's first? That's right, it's Lily. You'll never be as good as her... wasting my time with the likes of you...

They echoed horribly in her mind, cruel and cutting, coming back and lashing her over and over again. 

She slumped onto the ground, sobbing quietly at the emotional pain, but in a small part of her mind, one thought thumped determinedly on the walls of her skull...

'_Just you wait... Joy Redknapp never settles for second-best. I'll have you James... I'll have you wrapped around my little finger before you even know what hit you. And Lily better rue the day she messed with me...'_

*

Lily's scream faded out. 

"What?" Alex asked in concern. "What happened?" 

She forcefully flicked her wand, the haphazard emotions running through her causing the spell to be amplified, with the result being dozens of fluffy white towels zooming towards him and knocking him with such a force that he staggered backwards into the bathroom door. 

"Owww… Lily, what did you do that for?" He asked, affronted. 

"Cover up!" She shrieked. 

"Oh! So that was about my lack of clothes..." Alex announced. "What a trivial thing to get pissed about Lily. I mean, we are getting married, so there's nothing wrong with a bit of intimacy. But, anything to please you dear..." His voice trailed off as he concentrated on wrapping a towel around his waist and draping one over his shoulders. 

"Ok!" He exclaimed after finishing his wrapping. "Let's start the preparations!" And he rubbed his palms together in glee. 

"What?" Lily asked, looking dumbly at him. 

"You know... Preparations for our _wedding? –He laughed- Lily, you've got to stop spacing out. Hmm... hopefully you're not sick again... I'll give you a check up later..."_

Lily mumbled something that sounded like "_This can't be happening to me..._" and dashed downstairs. 

As she was about halfway out of the door, a slow whirring sound started up. And she turned around to see her C-globe answering machine come on. 

"_Hello! Who is this? You've just reached Alex Whipple! If you are looking for Lily Evans, soon to be Mrs Lily Whipple, she is not free at the moment, but please feel free to leave a message with her fiancée, **ME**! Yes, we are getting married soon, and if you ask nicely, we may just allow you to come to the wedding! Oh, and don't forget to leave your message, but don't forget that all messages go through my careful scrutiny, and any message I deem unsuitable will not be delivered to my soon-to-be wife and I will come hunting for you!"_

Lily threw up her hands as she finished hearing the message, frustration plain on her face. 

'Oh man... This is too much!' And she stalked out of the room, and jumped down to the first floor. 

"Wait! Where're you going?" Alex cried. 

"Out!" She exclaimed, and before he could protest or offer to come along, the main door had slammed behind her. 

"Ok!" Alex called at the slammed door. "But don't forget to take care, and if the temperature drops below 15oC be sure to come right back, you hear me? Oh, and be back for dinner!" He looked at the door, and continued, "is she angry with me?" And after a moment of silent contemplation, answered himself, "nahh, how can that be? She loves me!" And he shrugged and returned back to whatever he was doing before. 

*

Lily walked out onto the school grounds, and after a moment of looking around, decided to head towards Hogsmeade to clear her head. 

As she walked down the beaten path, she banged into something solid. 

"Oh sor-" The apology died on her lips as she looked up and her eyes widened, for she was staring at...

(should I be evil? How many will kill me? Should I be very evil? HMM…)

"_You_! Filthy Mudblood! Get off me. This is a branded Gust robe I tell you, and I am a Malfoy, Lucius Malfoy! Don't dirty me with your filth!"

'First Alex, now this...'

And, Lily, while usually calm and collected, had too much clouding her mind to top it off with the fact that filthy mudblood was not exactly the best of names to call her...

"Come on Malfoy, I can take you on, I'm not exactly scared of you. Hmm... what did you get for spell-casting during the OWLs? Hmm... Was the O for Outstanding? Or... was it for... Outrageously ineffective? You tell me Malfoy..."

Malfoy's eyes narrowed dangerously. "You won't get away with insulting a Malfoy, mudblood. You seek a fight? You shall get your fight! Prepare to die Mudblood!" 

(he doesn't know her name, he just knows her as a muggle-born. Don't ask me how he knows. they have… means...)

Lily smirked and her fingers delved into her pocket to seek out her wand, knowing full well that her quick reflexes would allow her to curse Malfoy even before he drew his wand.  

Her smile froze as her hand searched deeper into the pockets. Frantically she changed pockets and continued to search. 

'_Oh no!__ I didn't bring it! Argghh!! Alex just made me so angry I totally forgot about the wand! Just great... picking as fight with Malfoy without a wand... You're a genius Evans...' And while her thoughts were concentrating mainly on dodging any incoming curses, another thought floated within the depths of her mind... '_I am going to decapitate Alex if I live to get back!_'_

She quickly threw herself to one side and a bright blue light screeched past, cutting through the air where her head had originally been. Without further thought, she set off down the beaten track, jumping from side to side to avoid the multi-coloured hexes that was being thrown at her back. 

She heard pounding feet behind her as she entered Hogsmeade, and knew that Malfoy was still hot on her trail. 

*

Bella and Jill stepped out of Quality Quidditch Supplies and into the slightly cool street. 

"Hmm... The new broom was, I quote from a certain Sirius, '_fantastic'!" Bella exclaimed to her best friend. _

Jill nodded slowly, then spoke up, "it _was good, but I think the Silver Arrows are in a league of their own. Did you know they're going to stop production soon? If you want to replace your broom, get one of those before they become displays in a museum."_

Bella was about to open her mouth to reply but something barreled hard into her back and she stumbled forward. Jill caught hold of her arm to steady her, and they both turned to look at the offending person. 

"_Lily?!_" Both exclaimed, jaws dropping simultaneously open from surprise.

She nodded. "Oh, hey! It's you! Bella, Jill!" She answered hurriedly, and obviously panting for breath. 

"Are you tired? You seem in a rush, why don't you come to the Three Broomsticks with us for a mug of Butterbeer... You know, we've been looking all over for you especially-"

"Can't talk now! Have – got – to – go – back – to – castle – no – wand – I – Malfoy – Run!" With that she ran off in the opposite direction, and Bella finished her sentence.

"- James."

"Hey!" A new voice exclaimed, and the bell to Quality Quidditch Supplies chimed, signaling someone had exited the store. 

The two girls looked up to see Sirius frowning into the distance. "Wasn't that Lily?" He asked. 

Bella nodded in reply, and his frown deepened. 

"Hmm, why didn't you ask her to join us? James would be thrilled, and he could get rid of his bad mood once and for all!"

"You think we didn't?" Jill replied. "She ran off without answering, saying something incoherent about Malfoy and running. I think Malfoy was up to something."

"No! Ooh, that son of a bitch, I'm gonna pound him into the ground!" Sirius exclaimed. 

The bell chimed again and three people exited the shop, and caught the tail end of Sirius' profanities. 

"Whoa, what's with the language Padfoot?" The tallest of the three asked. He ruffled his unruly black hair and looked at Sirius.

"Yea," the other one with the dirty blond hair said. "Who's the SOB?"

"Malfoy," Sirius replied with narrowed eyes. 

"Yea, Malfoy. We already know that he's a SOB padfoot, tell us something we don't _already_ know," James drawled. "And why the renewed anger in him anyway?"

"Prongs, buddy," Sirius answered with a tight face and an even tighter voice, "Lily just came by..."

James face brightened at this and opened his mouth. 

Sirius held up a hand to stop the question. "Before you ask if she's joining us, she's not. The reason being Malfoy, who was chasing her around Hogsmeade."

After he said this, all three faces darkened visibly, and a cracking fist could be heard. 

"He is so gonna pay," Peter exclaimed. 

Remus and James nodded viscously. 

"Here he comes now," Bella muttered. 

And, coming into view was a disheveled Lucius Malfoy, his normally immaculate blond hair sticking out in strands.

He straightened up and saw the group watching him, and put on his customary sneer. 

"Well, look who we have here?" He sneered.

"What are you doing Malfoy?" James asked furiously. 

"Well, what I do is none of your business Potter! But, if you must know, I was hunting down and ridding the world of some muggle-born filth. You saw her come by didn't you? I command you to tell me where she went! Sad though... She was a pretty thing..." 

James laughed mirthlessly. "You were searching for a _girl? Lucius Malfoy _can't even find a girl. _Oh well –James shrugged- I suppose I expected too much from you." _

Malfoy snarled at them. 

And before Malfoy could do anything more, six wands were pointed directly at him.

"What are you doing Potter?" Malfoy asked as he saw the wands come up. 

"Did she, by chance, happened to be, let's say... unarmed? You disgust me Malfoy," James said, his eyes now hard and flashing furiously, and straightened was wand arm. 

Malfoy drew his wand. "Come on Potter, I dare you to."

"You should know by now that daring us in an extremely dumb thing to do. But, if you must..." He trailed off, and a multitude of different coloured bursts of light fired from all those six wands. Not a single shot missed... How could they? At that point-blank distance?

By the time the smoke cleared, Malfoy was lying dazed and goo-like on the cobblestone path, and the group were already disappearing into the distance. And, above the scene hung a violently purple message...

_Malfoy,_

_A dare's a dare.   
Never dare us...  
Smart move genius boy... _

                                    The Marauders.  
                                    Bella, Jill. 

And, in the distance, someone said, "Hmm, I do think the confusion curse and boneless hex does work well together, eh?"

*

Unknown to them all, someone was standing in the middle of an extremely drab room, staring at another person behind an old wooden desk. 

The person standing smirked. "_Yes, follow him. Price is not a problem_."

**(Author's note!!!**** Read it!! There are some things I address below.)**

~~~~~~~~~~~

_As I've said before, this chapter contained the Bella-Jill-Lily part, but poor James, he has missed her yet again. Oh, and I know that Lily seems like a damsel in distress in this chapter, when she runs from Malfoy. And why did she leave her wand behind? I'm sure we've all come across the irritating and highly inconveniencing period where we forget something that we really need because we have other things cluttering up our mind? Yes, unfortunately, Lily hit one of those periods._

_Don't worry all you females out there! (I'm one too!) Lily will get her justice! Look out for the part where she gets Alex and Malfoy back. That will be in later chapters because it will be after she meets the Marauders and learns to open up!  _

_Oh, yes, something else I have to address, I have planned this story so that it ends on the night of their graduation, but even right now, where the ending is still rather far away, I don't think I'll be able to let this story go so easily, cause I love writing it, so I want to know if anyone wants me to put in a few more chapters right until they die? _

_Oh, yes, I feel that you guys (ok, girls) should read the author's note. Somehow I feel that it is important, and sometimes I need to get your views on stuff! pls pls pls promise me you'll read it!!!_

_~cube_


	10. Searching Marauders

~~~

**Turn Left Turn Right.******

**Chapter 10: Searching Marauders. **

----

**Disclaimer: Am not J.K. Rowling. Don't sue.**

-----

**Summary: Two people who are destined to be together, (Lily and James) never meet but are always only a few feet away from each other. They live in bliss, ignorant of others, until one day they chance upon an encounter with each other and realise that their lives have missing pieces in it. They part, but then, are unable to contact each other again, leaving two love- torn teenagers desperately trying to find their other half.**

25 December 2003

***

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Squiggles1:** Hmm, Ok, Malfoy is probably a schemer, being the high class, dark arts wizard that he is. But, Lily did provoke him, and she didn't have her wand. So he kind of took advantage of that situation to curse her. And, Alex does sound a extreme, but that's what makes it fun, (and highly irritating). Well, it's like there's so many people out there who assume that they are like dating, so I thought maybe I could go a little further. Also, Alex doesn't love Lily. He just thinks he does. The more correct way to describe him is like an obsessed fan. So, from experience, there are girls in Singapore who buy air tickets and charter buses to chase after their idols, and even propose to them. So I thought, hey, why not make Alex like that...

-chants- I want it to snow in Singapore. Darn. Hmm, well, a few weeks ago there was this weird hail storm going on, it was so totally out of the blue since it doesn't hail here!! French?? My friend wanted to take that as a third language, but she dropped the idea (the fees were absurd) You're having school now? The oral report thing. We're out for two months, but this is the last week of the holidays. Oh, if you drop by Singapore, there's not much here, just numerous shopping centres that us locals find amusing. But there's always THE FOOD... ahh, my first love... Oh, do you mean the one in Sentosa? Or the one near town? 

**ShorTi: Yea... I think I will. **

**Indiangurl: Hehe, Alex gets a small portion of revenge for now. **

**LJstagflower4e: I loved the Joy-bashing scene too. It's only his pompous mind making major assumptions! I mean, which mother would want their daughter to marry him, and which daughter would actually want to get engaged to him? Lily won't, not when there's James around!!!**

**Jac: That was the beginning of the evil plot my evil brain is cooking up! Oh, yes, James finds out that Lily's the name of the Head Girl the next chapter. I loved LOTR – return of the king. It's absolutely the best movie this year! But, I rather ARAGORN!!!!! Which other story? JASLS or TS?**

**juxtaposed****: This whole chapter is the Marauder goodness you asked for! Have you been to Singapore? Oh, Singapore's so small, it got mistook for one of the poor villages of China. –mutters- are we really so small??? –sobs dramatically- =)**

**Bec: Yea, he is a nutter. Who in their right mind would like him anyway? And thanks to you and your friend. **

**Catherine24: LIVERPOOL?!??! Okok, I wont have a fit! HAHAHA, But I'm not a Beckham fan! I didn't start supporting Man U because of him. Anyway, I don't think he's that great of a player. –ducks stones thrown by fan girls- I find the hype surrounding him disgusting, hahaha, as you can tell, I don't like people who support a team just because of a player. Heehee. Thank goodness I didn't say Liverpool, or you would have skinned me alive! **

**Lady_iris27: Lily and James, and fluff, and Alex leaving Lily alone all comes in later chapters. Oh, and Joy will leave James in later chapters too! This is kind of a build up to the heavier chapters. **

**HoNeY-sWeEt: I'm updating already! Anyway, thanks. Oh, yea, I wouldn't want to be sued on counts that I made you mad! =) Read on... **

**Crimson Girl: Thank you. **

**Athana** Diagon Cat**: Yes, we all want to kill Alex too! Hmm, maybe we'll kill him. **

**Kittiy: Thanks a lot, I'm continuing now...**

**Amour-et-paix0707: Yep, it is, as stated in previous chapters. Anyway, thanks.**

**Fulldark****: Lily gets a small bit of revenge, and the engagement is only in his head. WHO WOULD WANT TO MARRY HIM?!?!!? **

~~~~~~~~~~~~

So, hopefully you'll like the chapter, and well, this is my Christmas gift to you people, seeing that I don't know where you stay and I can't send the numerous Ferrari sports cars I bought to you. (Haha, just kidding! I don't have barrels of money, and I only cars that I can buy are Hot Wheels cars) 

Merry Xmas!

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Everything was silent. An owl hooted, and was answered by other hoots as the night birds  awoke from their slumber to go out for their nightly hunts. A cool breeze carried across the grounds, causing the grass to bend over slightly. Small waves lapped gently on the bank of the great lake, and the Giant Squid lazily propelled itself across the surface of the water. Everything was as it should be, save for a strange white shape floating aimlessly around the Great Lake. 

Up above, the sky was a dark midnight blue, almost black, and the cloudless sky showed the thousands of twinkling stars. The half moon hung high in the sky, emitting a soft glow.

Inside the castle, not a sound could be heard, except the occasional footsteps of the prowling caretaker. 

And, in one room, the lighted candles cast a warm glow over the things in the room. It was the middle of spring, which meant that temperatures had warmed sufficiently so that the use of the fireplace was not required, yet was still cool, that some heat, and light had to be given out. 

Nothing moved, except the flickering shadows, but suddenly, that silence was shattered as something came tumbling down, followed by another thudding sound, and then a third and final one, before quiet resumed, if only for a short period of time. 

Another five minutes gone, and sound yet again tore through the quiet of the night. 

"**_Padfoot_!" Someone hissed in irritation. "_Get the bloody hell of my feet_!"**

"Well, _sor-ry," an answering voice replied sarcastically. "It wasn't my fault that your feet decided to be in front of me the moment I started down the steps, was it Moony?" _

"It wasn't my feet!" The first voice spoke again, this time indignantly. "It was Wormtail's!"

"No, it wasn't my feet!" A third voice entered the scene. 

"So are you implying that the great Sirius Black tripped over my own feet?" The second voice asked dryly. 

"Well..." The third person said. "Now that you think about it... yea..."

The sounds of a scuffle broke out, with bare feet squeaking on the cool marble floor, and sounds of grunts and mutters echoed through the empty room. 

"Quiet you two!" The first person muttered. "Do you want to get caught?"

The sounds of the small fight died. 

"Well, it's not as if it hasn't happened before..." The voice that had identified himself as Sirius said. 

"Well, can we get caught some other time?" The first person inquired impatiently. "This is actually kind of important."

"Remind me again," the third voice replied. "Why is it that we are sneaking out in the dead of night without a prank planned?"

"Well, we aren't playing a prank tonight Peter," the first voice muttered, then sighed. "Just wait a while. The darkness' killing me... _Lumos." _

A heartbeat later, light flared out of a wand, and then settled, glowing brightly in the room, throwing the three people there into sharp relief. 

One, the second to have spoken had a neat, and slightly long mane of black hair, and black eyes. The light reflecting of his hair and eyes showed midnight blue streaks in his hair, and different coloured blues within his eyes. A black cloak was thrown messily over his shoulders. 

The other, the first to have spoken, had light brown hair, that was currently sticking messily up, and slightly darker brown eyes, and he looked slightly grumpy, and very sleepy. He had obviously not bothered with tidying himself up, and was still in his pair of pajamas. (Aww, Remus is so cute) 

The third, and last to speak had blond hair, and light blue eyes, and was currently covering his mouth with a hand as he yawned widely. 

(ok, if you're confused, the first person is Remus, the second person is Sirius and the third person is Peter.)

"Aah!" Peter cried out as the wand lit up. "Too bright! _Too bright!" And he shielded his eyes against the bright glare. _

Remus nodded with his eyes closed. "_Lumos Minimalius_," he muttered again, and the light dimmed. 

"Let's go," Sirius whispered, and they made their way towards the portrait door. 

"Ok," Peter replied, and the two reached the hole. "Hey! Wait! Moony's still over there."

Sirius snorted. "It figures," he said. 

Remus had fallen asleep in a seated position, his head resting against the staircase banister as a support. 

"Moony... Moony!" 

Remus jolted upright, and promptly hit his head on the wall. A resounding thud echoed through the room. He rubbed his eyes angrily. 

"What the hell was that for?" He asked in irritation. 

Sirius motioned the door with his head. "Remember? We're like, going out now?"

Remus glanced at them. "Oops?" 

Upstairs, someone grunted, and a door creaked open. 

"Shit!" Remus hissed. "Someone's coming. Let's go."

"Exactly what we've been saying for the past ten minutes," Peter replied diplomatically. 

"It's not my fault I require fifteen hours of sleep everyday," Remus griped, but all the same, he leapt over to the portrait hole, and it swung silently outwards. 

The three quickly stepped out of the hole, and it clicked shut behind them. Through the portrait, they could hear someone in the common room searching the place. 

"That's odd," the voice of Tracy Stevens drifted through the portrait. "I distinctly heard Sirius, Remus and Peter down here. Oh well..." 

The three sniggered to themselves, quickly soothed the suspicious Fat Lady with promises that they were not up to no good, and would be back soon, and set off down the dimly lit corridor.

"That's what you say every time!" She protested. "And every time, you come back with a detention hanging over your head!"

*

Lily sat on her roof, staring at the stars above. It was relatively cool, and very refreshing to be sitting up here at night. 

She smiled in satisfaction as she remembered what had happened earlier on. Ok, so it was not what she would have normally done... But this was better, much better. 

*** Flashback ***

_Lily strolled back to her dorms after staying out for most of the day after her classes. She felt very happy as she gave the portrait a password – Moonlight - . It was a new password that had been inputted just earlier, after she had thrown out all of the stuff that did not belong to her, and it was one that Alex surely did not have. As she stepped through the portrait, she silently cursed. The place was back to the same messy self Lily had found when Alex had voluntarily moved in. _

_"What the –" Lily exclaimed to herself. "**Why – What – How?" Lily asked herself dumbly.**_

_Then, an uncharacteristic anger took over her. _

She marched up the stairs, where, predictably, the idiot was already sound asleep on her bed, snoring into the pillow, and drooling all over it. She cringed inwardly, vowing to herself that the bed sheets and pillowcases would go, no matter how the house-elves cleaned it. 

_She hurriedly levitated him, along with the pillows, and bed sheets, and floated him out of the large window, and down onto the grounds where she set him down in the middle of the lake and cast a floating charm on it, so that the bed sheet was floating on the water. _

_'Hey,' she thought dispassionately to herself. 'It could have been better to let him drown, but I wouldn't want to be charged with manslaughter, and furthermore..." a grin took hold of her features. "... I just remembered he's dead afraid of the water! ... Oops?" She smiled to herself, then climbed onto her roof. _

*** End Flashback ***

She laughed aloud, softly. Thinking about it still brought laughter to her mouth. 

Up above, a bright shower of sparks sprayed out of a single shining stars, and it seemed to her, that the stars were all laughing along with her. 

*

Sirius, Remus and Peter crept along the long hallways of Hogwarts, making slightly less sound than a scuttling cockroach. 

"We've been searching the castle for days!" Remus whispered, ever the voice of reason. "What makes you think that there's a chance that their will be one? I mean, if we haven't found it yet, there most likely isn't anything."

"Aww, come on Moony," Sirius quirked. "Don't be such a pessimist!"

Remus shrugged. "Your loss, not mine."

"If we don't find it, it's our loss, not just mine," Sirius replied. 

"Remind me again why we're doing this?" Moony asked.

"We," Sirius stopped walking, and turned around to face them, stopping so abruptly that Remus ran into Sirius, and Peter walked into Remus' back. 

A chorus of '_watch it's' echoed through the air, followed by similar hisses __of 'quiet you fool man. Do you want your skins to be displayed in Filch's office?'_

"We," Sirius said again, "are doing this so that there won't be a next time James decides to act like a bloody prat."

"Ok, same as the last time I checked then," Remus said. "Certainty of capture... Small chance of success... Well, what are we waiting for?" He questioned, and, the three Marauders, through quiet snorts of laughter, set off once more. (The line is taken from Gimli from ROTK. but, it's Certainty of death... small chance of success.)

*

Ten minutes later, the three were hot and sticky, and there was still no sign of the thing they were looking for. 

"Arghh, shit, it's bloody hot," Sirius muttered to himself. 

"Stop mumbling Padfoot, you numbskull," Peter griped from the back. "We're all suffering here."

"Ssh!" Remus hissed. "Wait... Let me think of something..." A smile spread over his face. "_Arctium Triplus." He waved his wand over the three of them in a complicated wand movement, and a moment later, a refreshing cool settled on the three of them. _

"Moony, you're a genius..." Sirius breathed. 

"Aren't I always?" Remus asked, and smirked at his friends. 

"Ever the modest one," Peter said, but grinning all the same. "Let's go then, shall we?"

"Whatever you say Wormtail," Sirius replied, his voice floating somewhere in front of them as he vanished a patch of shadows the dim light did not reach. 

Remus and Peter vanished after him, bare feet padding softly on the ground. They had long ago found out that walking around in shoes in the dead of night caused resounding 'thud-thud' sounds that could too easily be followed. 

Along with Peter, Remus set of down the hallway, with his lit wand as a guide. 

"Shit! Where the hell is Sirius?" Remus muttered after a while. "Didn't he think to use his wand? That damned fool."

Footsteps sounded behind them. 

"Ah ther-" Remus started, but was silenced a moment later by Peter's hand on his mouth. 

There was a soft mewling sound, and someone spoke in gravelly tones, "what is it, my sweet?"

Remus blanched, and whitened visibly. "_Holy shit_," he whispered. 

Peter tugged on his arm, and they set off quickly into the darkness, with Remus making a sound like a cricket chirping, one of their secret Marauder signals for '_danger, meet up as soon as possible', every minute. _

Sirius found them after just two minutes, and the three fled down a corridor. 

"We should have lost him now," Remus said after a while, after the silence closed in around them. 

Peter nodded. "That's good."

Remus leant on a wall, his werewolf instincts alert, and was scouting the are, to see if anyone would come. 

"Woah-" 

"What was that sound?" Sirius asked. 

Peter shrugged. "No idea. Moon – **_Shit_**!"

The sound of footsteps had started up again, this time closer than ever. 

*

Remus looked around him in alarm. 

"Padfoot? Wormtail?" He called, expecting no answer and receiving none. "_Lumos._"

The light flared out and he surveyed the area. A grin split his features. 

*

"Let's go!" Sirius said hurriedly. 

"We can't!" Peter replied. "We just walked down a dead end corridor!"

Sirius groaned. "Shit! Why didn't Moony warn us anyway? Moony... _Moony_?"

The two swiveled around to stare at their friend when they got no answer, but instead, found themselves staring at a blank stretch of wall. 

"Now, where the hell did he go?" Sirius asked comically. "Oh, drastic times call for drastic action. Move over Wormtail." He waited while Peter moved closer to him. "Ok, don't move, or it won't work... _Invisiblius Totallus_!"

And, the two flickered, then faded, leaving nothing to show that anyone had once been there. 

"Thank goodness there's no light here... Our shadows would have been a dead giveaway," peter murmured under his breath. 

"Quiet," Sirius hissed in reply. "He's coming."

Filch's face appeared, illuminated by the glow of his lamp, and at his feet was Mrs Norris, who was peering around his legs to stare up at them. 

Sirius and Peter breathed heavily under the cloak as Filch came nearer towards them, each wondering if cats had the ability to see through invisibility. 

"What's this, my sweet?" Filch asked suddenly as he stared down at the floor. Mrs Norris meowed slowly, her lamp-like eyes never moving once from the two. 

Sirius cursed under his breath. On the floor, in the pool of lamplight, were two rounded shapes of the top of their heads. "_Mobiliarbus shadow_!" he muttered the spell under his breath, and caused the shadows to take on a live of their own and slink into the shadows. 

"Oh, it's gone..." Filch said. "It must have been my imagination."

He peered off into the dead-end corridor, wondering if there was anyone there, then finally, giving a small nod, he declared it empty. 

"Come along now, Mrs Norris," he said, and turned to leave. 

Mrs Norris stared at them for a moment longer, before she too turned around and walked down the corridor, her tail swishing. 

Once they were certain that Filch was gone, Sirius removed the invisibility charm. 

"Phew, close call," Peter muttered. "For a second there, I thought he would have had us. Handy charm there, by the way. Just that we'll have to find our shadows now... _Lumos_." He peered around him, his wand light as the guide as he searched for the missing shadows. 

"Where is Moony, anyway?" Sirius inquired as they searched the place. 

Peter shrugged. 

Another muffled thump, someone tumbled onto the floor, and a click was heard. 

"Shit! He's back already? _Invisiblius Totallus!"_

"Ouch," came a very annoyed, and very irritated voice. "Take off the bloody charm guys. It's only me..."

"_Invisiblius Finite," came a muttered voice, and a moment later, two people appeared.  _

"Moony? Where the hell did you go?" Sirius asked as he looked into the darkness. 

"_Lumos minimalius," someone said, and a dim light appeared, and enveloped the area in a small glowing globe._

Moony held up a cage of some sort – it was golden and had symbols written on them - , which showed two black things writhing around in the light.

"Are these yours?" He asked dryly. "I found them floating around." He rolled his eyes. "I believe the correct incantation was _Mobiliarbus Fixum Shadow_?" 

"Hey! Where did you find those?" Peter exclaimed.

"Sirius' thwacked me on the nose," Remus replied nonchalantly. 

He shook his head, but a smile was evident on his face. 

Peter and Sirius snorted. 

"Oh, alright genius Moony," Sirius said, and mock bowed. 

"_Fixum Shadow," Remus said, and the door to the cage opened, and the shadows flowed out and reattached themselves to their respective owners, but not before one of them gave Sirius the middle finger._

"Pity... It would have been fun if you two had switched shadows," Remus said dispassionately. 

(Ok, if anyone wanted to know, shadows by themselves dwell in the darkness, so when they are not attached to any physical object, they will have a great aversion to the light, so they were writhing in the light. But when they are attached to a physical object, they will gain a kind of immunity towards the light, so that is why they don't move.)

"Where did you go, anyway, huh?" Peter questioned. 

"Me? I was doing something far more important than you two were... Presenting..."

He stepped up against a section of the wall, and leant against it. Suddenly, the panel gave away, and Remus disappeared. 

Sirius shook his head, a grin on his face. "Well, what are we waiting for?"

The remaining two Marauders followed, and soon disappeared from the spot. 

They appeared in a place dimly lit by Remus' wand.

"A true Marauder, Moony," Sirius said, and sniffed dramatically. "Secret passage number three-hundred and thirty-six, to be added into the Map."

"Come on, we haven't got all day," Remus said from somewhere in front of them, and they set off down the path. 

*

Fifteen minutes later, and still no sign of where the passageway was leading them too. The monotonous stone walls provided no respite from the boredom. After all, secret passageways were built to be used, and not to be looked at. The passageway had narrowed considerably, and where they had started out with three people walking abreast and upright, now, it was Sirius in front, followed by Remus, and finally Peter, crawling along the way on their knees. 

"How long more is this going to go on?" Sirius muttered. 

"Stop complaining," Remus grunted from behind. "At least you don't have to stare at someone else's butt!"

"Hey! What are you implying?" Sirius said. 

"You know..." Remus replied, and by his tone, they could tell that he was smirking. 

"I resent that ok!" Sirius called out. "I have the nicest and firmest ass in the whole of Hogwarts! You should be happy staring at my ass! Now, Wormtail... Wormtail should be the one complaining at having to stare at your ass!"

Peter and Remus snorted. "Oh really?" They chorused simultaneously. "I believe you."

"Certainly," came Sirius' 'very-modest' answer. 

"_Uh-oh," Sirius said suddenly, and stopped, causing the two behind to stop as well.  _

"What?" Remus and Peter hissed in panic. "Please don't tell me this is a dead end."

"Left or right?" Sirius interrupted. 

"_What?!" The other two asked. _

"Left or right?" He said again, this time impatiently. "This thing branches off into two directions. For all we know, it could be a loop that takes us back here, or they could each go on for miles before coming to a dead end. So which is it? Left or right?"

"Anything, Padfoot."

"Alrighty then. Right it is."

The crawling started again, and gradually, the passageway sloped upwards, and the air became thinner. 

"I feel success just around the corner," Peter whispered. 

They finally reached a small hollow, a place big enough so that all three could stand up. There was a small lever at waist level. 

Three grins appeared on three tired faces. 

Sirius pulled the lever, and they toppled out of a portrait into a room. They looked around, and found girls clothes, books and stuff arranged neatly in the room. 

"Oops?" Wrong room?" Sirius whispered back at them. 

"Let's look around first?" Peter said, as he peered around the room. "This must be the Head Girls' room. The layout's the same as Prongs'. And I wanna see who the Head Girl is."

"No," Remus said, and steered them back towards the portrait. 

"Why?"

"Cause we're running short of time." He pointed towards the window at the opposite of the room, and outside, the moon was just creeping towards the edge of the horizon. 

"Good point there, let's go," Sirius said, and they turned around to the portrait. 

A noise sounded from above. "Who's there?" A feminine sound called. 

"_Shit!"_

*

Lily awoke to a gentle breeze playing on her face. She looked around and realised that she was still on the roof. 

'I must have fell asleep up here,' she thought to herself, rubbing her eyes in sleepiness.  

Wondering what had sparked her abrupt return to consciousness, she had never woken up this early before, she heard the sound of muffled conversation from her room. 

"Hmm," she said happily to herself, as she stared out to the Great lake, seeing the white shape still floating there. "It's definitely not Alex. I just dumped him in the lake."

Her mind froze, and she suddenly felt awake. '_Conversation... My room?... Who is it?_' She felt around her, and finally found her wand in her cloak pocket. 'Thank heavens I didn't change out of my school attire yesterday.'

Comforting herself that she at least had a way of defense against the intruders, she dropped down the open skylight, and said, "who's there?"

She was answered by a chorus of 'shit's' and made her way to the main bedroom, where the sound was coming from. 

A sound of pounding reached her ears.

*

The three quickly scrambled to the portrait, and proceeded to pound on it. 

"Shit, shit... **_SHIT_! She's coming!" Sirius yelled as he spotted the shadow of a girl creeping along the corner. "Come on, let's push!"**

The three then leaned back towards the portrait and pushed with all their might. 

"AAHhhh..." 

*

Lily froze as she heard the yell, and then, clutching her wand tightly in her hand, she quickly stepped into the bedroom. 

Something clicked.

No one was there. 

*

Sirius grunted as he rolled down the incline, and came to rest at the bottom with a loud grunt. This was followed by another loud grunt, and an 'ouch' and moments later, another grunt, and two indignant 'ouches'. 

"Get off me, Moony!" Sirius yelled.

"I can't!" His friend exclaimed. "Peter's sitting on me!"

"Wait, wait!" Peter said, and soon, the weight on Remus' legs disappeared. 

"Now, will you get off me?" Sirius questioned sarcastically. 

Remus snorted something intelligible and got off. 

"Thank you," Sirius said, and got up, quickly dusting himself off. 

"We have to backtrack," Remus groaned. 

"Well, at least we know that the other path will most probably take us to the Head Boys' room!" Peter said brightly. 

"Well, at least this is going downhill," Sirius said brightly. "Hmm..." He said as he peered down the slope. "_Freezum._"

In front of them, the stone path was coated with ice, and three boards appeared in front of them. 

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Sirius asked, and grabbed a board, and jumped onto the ice path. "Whoo hoo!" His yell petered out as his bubble of light carried far to the front and  disappeared. 

Remus and Peter grinned and grabbed another board each, and jumped onto the patch of ice. 

*

"This should be it!" Sirius exclaimed as they came to another dead end, with a similar lever sticking out of the side. 

He grabbed the lever and pulled, and the three toppled out onto the floor. 

*

And as dawn was breaking, unknown to the three happy Marauders who had just had a highly adventurous night, something evil was going on, far away from their safe haven. 

"Aah, Mister Malfoy. It's a pleasure," someone said. 

Lucius Malfoy nodded at the person. "What, may I ask, is your purpose in calling me here?"

"I have a proposition to make..." The person explained what she wanted. 

"And what do I get out of this?" Malfoy asked. 

"You get rid of a thorn in your flesh."

Malfoy quickly weighed the incentives against the disincentives. A evil smile appeared on his face. 

"_You've got yourself a deal."_

                                              ~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 10 done! Well, it's Christmas. I took my holidays off to get this done... Anyway, this chapter is only Marauder goodness. Lots and lots of Sirius, Remus, and Peter. (hmm, maybe the last one doesn't count.)

Ok, this chapter is basically about the three of them finding the secret passage to James' room. Hmm, maybe it's quite long to have taken up one whole chapter, but I tried to put some humor into it. Anyway, I liked the way it turned out. It's like for comic relief. And, it also shows the beginning of an evil plot. We already know Malfoy's in it. Who planned it? Hmm...

And, Lily finally gets some extent of her revenge! Yay! Stupid Alex. Oh, next chapter we'll see what happens when he wakes up to find himself floating on the water... HEEHEE! 

Oh, yes, hope you people don't think that the three Marauders are out of character here. I mean like, people tend to think that they are not afraid of being caught, so why did they hide from Filch. So, they don't mind being caught, but will avoid it if possible. Furthermore, the thing they were doing tonight was somewhat important, so they couldn't afford to get caught, or else they would spend the rest of the night the Filch's office and not looking for the passageway. Also, they may seem to be complaining quite a bit when searching. Hmm, it's not exactly fun crawling on your knees in a stuffy place, is it?

Next chapter, James realises that the Head Girl's name is Lily, and he goes to investigate. 

~cube 


	11. One Alex, Fresh From The Lake

~~~

**Turn Left Turn Right.******

**Chapter 11: One Alex, Fresh From The ****Lake****.**

----

**Disclaimer**: Am not J.K. Rowling. Don't sue.

-----

**Summary**: Two people who are destined to be together, (Lily and James) never meet but are always only a few feet away from each other. They live in bliss, ignorant of others, until one day they chance upon an encounter with each other and realise that their lives have missing pieces in it. They part, but then, are unable to contact each other again, leaving two love- torn teenagers desperately trying to find their other half.

9 January 2004

***

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Squiggles1**: Yes, we are obsessed with acronyms. Oh, I'm Chinese, and I'm a lousy language person. I can only speak English and Chinese, and that not even fluently. I have mustered Singlish though! Hehehe... Lol, seems like no one's complaining about the entire chapter on the Marauders and not a single word on Lily and James! That was a genius spark of the moment. Hmmm, hope I can get a few more sparks, they come by awfully seldom... Anyway, I hope you have time to read this, since school has started, I myself am buried in school stuff since I just started junior college.

**Indiangurl**: Whoo!! You just gave me an idea! I love you man! Err, woman!

**ShorTi**: Sorry for the late update!!! Happy Hols too!

**Banana! / MightyMouth**: I'm sorry!! But I really am waist deep in school stuff! Hmm, the note at the end of the chapter might cheer you up a little though. I was trying to get this up after seeing your many reviews, and I tried to rush it out, hopefully you don't mind it being a little late.

**Jac****:** Aragorn!!! HAHAHA!! Okok, thanks for your double show of support. You read my mind! Lol, you're and observant reader! Darn! I wasn't supposed to let that out so soon!

**Lady Cecilia**: Yes, this story has become something I really like, so I'm going to finish it even if I have to plow through a snowstorm to get to a computer... =)

**blueseveryday**: I'm from Singapore! And it is adapted loosely from the movie, as I've said before, just with additional bits inside, I'm glad you like it...

**Jegan**: I'm so sorry! Hmm, hopefully I can get the next chapter up soon, the note at the bottom might give you a little Valentine's Day cheer!

**Eihwaz**** and Lourdaise**: Thanks lots! =)

**Secret**: Which parts?!?! Oh no... Ok, hmmm, I better do that soon, anyway, my sisters will prolly think I'm a lunatic for mumbling to myself. 

**Kat44**: Thanks, and well, that's not exactly what's going to happen, but it's not quite far away.

**Fulldark**: Ok, I'm updating, and I've read your stories, and I'm getting around to reviewing, I promise I will. Sorry, it's been real hectic for me. 

**julyborn09**: Updating! And, hmmm, you're quite right. But, as usual, that comes later!

**Dippy**: Honestly, I have no idea how many chapters its going to be. I just have a story plot, but I write as I go along. But, tentatively, maybe about ten or less than? Hmmm, not very sure.. Winter in Singapore is hot! How sad is that?!? Lol. 

**Lady_iris27**: Hmmm, what you were hoping for isn't coming yet though, they will kind of be quite at the end, right before James and Lily gets together...

**Princess Emily**: They will meet! They will meet! Not yet though... =)

**Agloechen**: I understood that perfectly well... Heehee, LOTR ROCKS! But what I found extremely funny was the part where Legolas said "a diversion!" 

**Athena Lune de Etoile**: Thanks a lot! Lol, Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year to you. 

**aurora_borealis**: You found it funny??? HONESTLY YOU FOUND IT FUNNY?? I LOVE YOU! I'm not a very good humor writer! What you said just made my day!

**ChickoftheDarkMoon**: Thanks lots!

**Togarrop**: It's ok, I kind of know how you feel, but hmmm, I suppose it adds a little more to the story...

**HoNeY-sWeEt**: DIE ALEX DIE! Well, you'll get to know what Malfoy is planning in due course! But it's bad! He gets a little pranking here.

**Sasinak**: Merry Xmas (a little too late) and Happy New Year (too late too!) Yes, I'm having a though time with school now. 

**Dee Ann**: Thanks! Oh, hmmm, this comes too late, so well, Merry Xmas and Happy New Year.

                                            ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_Squelch... Squelch... _He grimly closed his eyes and grimaced as he marched through the hallway. Around him, people turned to stare as he passed, each holding hearty sniggers behind hands, others not even bothering to be polite, but instead, burst out laughing as they glimpsed him.  

'What did I ever do to deserve this?' He wondered to himself.

Squelch... Squelch. 

"Woah!" Someone behind him yelped and a thudding sound could be heard. 

_Squelch..._ 'Oh god... That squelching sound is getting on my nerves.'

He glared at everyone he passed. 

_Squelch... _His boots, full of water made a squelching sound as it hit the floor. Mossy-green algae hung from the sole of his boots. 

Alex angrily marched up the staircase outside the Great Hall. His brown-blonde hair stuck up at odd angles, various objects stuck inside the nest of hair. The lake water on his hair had evaporated, causing the residual crystals of salt to crystallize onto his hair, and harden it, producing a gel like effect, that incidentally made on side of his hair stick right up, and the other flay all over the place. He clutched his pair of wet socks in his fist. The neon green pajamas with purple Lilies on it, and the matching bottom, dripped water onto the stone floor, and patches of dirty-green stained his face. Half his body was stained an unbecoming _black_. 

Behind him, the person that had unsuspectingly stepped onto a puddle of water and slipped cursed angrily at his back, and Alex marched on, cross-eyed, into the castle. 

*

James yawned loudly and woke up, stretching his tall 6"3 frame in the soft bed. He glanced around the room sleepily. The wizard clock read 'just on time to get ready for school'. Outside, the sun was shining, the birds were chirping, the sky was blue. And in his room, his three other friends were sitting on the edge of his bed, looking at him funnily. 

He yawned again. Everything was just fine. 

Then, his brain froze. '_Padfoot, Moony and Wormtail in my room?!_' 

The last traces of sleep disappeared from his brain as he sprung up to stare at his friends. 

"Good morning Prongs!" Sirius said brightly. 

"That's right, how are you doing on this fine morning?" Moony questioned, as he flipped nonchalantly through James' latest copy of Quidditch Through the Ages. 

"I see you're finally awake!" Peter exclaimed. 

"What are you guys doing here?" James asked dumbly. 

The three stopped what they were doing, and turned their heads to him, with a duh-duh look on their faces. 

"Aww, come on guys! It's not like I'm locked up in my room anymore, right?"

"Yea, but it could happen again," Sirius replied. 

James shrugged. "So, tell me where it is."

"Where what is?" Three voices replied, each with too innocent looks plastered on them. 

James snorted. "The innocent look doesn't go well on your faces. Padfoot, you look like something got shoved up your ass. Come, on, tell me where it is! I know you don't have my room's password. It's '_Padfoot, you ass_' by the way. - _HEY! replied an indignant Sirius_ - So, you couldn't have gone in through the door. Now, where is that secret passage?" 

The three Marauders suddenly busied themselves with doing other things. 

"Prongs, if you don't get ready now, we're gonna be late," Remus said from his left, while inspecting his bookshelf. 

Two other heads nodded agreement. 

"Oh, and Prongs?" Peter asked sheepishly. 

"Yea?"

"Could you spare the three of us some school robes?" Peter indicated to the three of them who were in Muggle clothing. 

James threw three sets of robes over to them.

*

Lily happily got dressed for school, humming softly to herself. From what she knew, Alex was a chronic late sleeper, and by the time he got up, she would have had enough time to get out of her room, and go to classes, where she knew that he, not being a Hogwarts student, was barred entry from the classrooms during lesson time. 

"Hmm... The sun is shining, the birds are singing, the sky is blue... and Alex is gone... what a perfect day,' Lily mused to herself, and smiled. 

*

The four Marauders made their way down to the Great Hall for breakfast.

"I still can't believe you're keeping that secret passage from me!" James griped. "It makes me feel so constipated!"

Remus looked at him weirdly through the corners of his eyes. 

"I _need _to know where that secret passage is! I don't care!" James exclaimed. 

"I understand," Sirius replied, nodding very seriously. "Usually constipated people don't give a shit."

"_Sirius!!_" Three voices chorused. 

"What's that sound?" Remus queried suddenly. 

The other three paused, straining their ears to pick up the sound that their Remus' werewolf-enhanced hearing could hear, but they could not. 

Soon, the object, or sound in this case, of Remus' curiosity came into hearing range. 

_Squelch... Squelch... _

"Hmm..." James responded. "It's sounds like a duck with a sore throat to me. Eww... What the hell is that smell?"

_Squelch... _But, along with the strange sound, a horrible smell of rotten eggs came drifting towards them. 

The answers became apparent soon enough. 

A boy rounded a corner and came into view. James, Sirius and Peter snorted at the sight, and even Remus couldn't help but let out an audible chuckle. 

"What in heavens happened to him?" James asked, and held his nose as he came nearer to them. 

Sirius shrugged, and laughed openly. 

He reeked of rotten eggs, and dripped water from head to toe. Stains covered the front of his shirt, and his hair stuck wildly out, with a twig caught amongst the mess. 

"What are you looking at!" He yelled as he saw the Marauders staring at him. 

"He's polite too," Remus murmured as he stared at the guy, disgust showing on his face. "Haven't I seen him around before?" 

"Yea, he's the guy that worked in the Hospital Wing while I was there. Bloody ass." James said. He rolled his eyes openly, and made an 'L' sign with his fingers on his forehead. "What a loser," he muttered under his breath. "This calls for some pranking. Now..." 

***Boom***

A hazy grey smoke engulfed the guy, and when it cleared, a grayish-green and lumpy substance covered his forehead, and a big red 'L' was pasted onto his back. 

"Not the best of pranks, but -" Sirius said. 

" - still works like a charm anyway." Remus finished. "What was that thing on his head anyway?"

James shrugged, then grimaced. "That? Oh, that was Bear's Bile. He stuffed me with it while I was in the Wing. I just gave him a taste of his own medicine." 

*

Lily stretched as she finished off the last of the baked potatoes on her plate, and it returned to a sparkling gleam. She stood up, and grabbed her bag, and was just about to head towards the portrait hole, when a crashing sound was heard, and the portrait swung open. 

"What the -" She started.

Alex stood there, looking around wildly, and with his eyes crossed. A strange lumpy substance that Lily, thought, with a sneaking suspicion that it was the Bear's Bile he had given her, was splattered on his forehead. Twigs were stuck in his hair, and his purple pajamas were ruined. 

"Oh, it's you. Not exactly looking peachy today, are we?" She said, and smiled slightly. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have lessons to attend." 

"Lily darling, why did you do that?" Alex whined. "Don't you love me? Did you know how awful it was for me to wake up floating in the middle of some disgusting lake?" 

Lily paused. 'Hmm... I was wondering what happened...'

*** Flashback ***

_Alex yawned loudly, and stretched. He opened an eye slightly, and the clear blue of the sky filled his vision. _

_He closed his eyes and smiled to himself. "I'm sleeping soundly under Lily's open skylight, the wind is blowing in my hair and..." he murmured to himself, and flipped over on his side, hugging something. "... Lily's sleeping beside me. What a wonderful day this is..."_

_The thing he was hugging contracted, and slid slimily from his hold, and a splashing sound could be heard. _

_"Eww, Lily! Didn't you take a bath yesterday night?" Alex mumbled. "You feel awfully slimy. And what's that splashing sound anyway?" _

_Expecting an answer but receiving none, Alex cracked open both eyes and looked about. _

_"**HOLY SHIT!**"_

_He stared in a horrified trance as a great black circle rose above his head, and closed, and opened again. _

_In a second, he was covered in black liquid. _

_The thing - squid - blinked lazily back at him, and rolled over the floating bed sheet, in the process, wiping goo all over him, and then rolling back down into the murky depths of the water. _

_"Woah-" A shrill-high pitched shriek tore through the cool early morning air, followed by a gigantic splash. _

_*_

_In the cool light of dawn, four first year students came tumbling out of the stairway onto the dewy grass. _

_They quickly made their way over to the __Great__Lake__, peering out across its wide expanse. _

_"It's here!" One yelped excitedly, pointing off into the middle of the lake. _

_As they watched, they grey shape slowly moved across the surface of the water, until it loomed right beside them, like a wobbly unshapely mass of grey goo._

_"Awesome," one breathed, staring awestruck at the sight. "Oh, wait, its' holding something, see, there? The black thing there..." He pointed upwards. _

_Their gazes travelled towards where the finger was pointed and, sure enough, there was something held there. _

_The Giant Squid let out an almighty heave, and steam spouted slowly from his mouth, then he uncoiled his tentacles, and dropped the thing he was carrying onto the ground. It opened its mouth wide, and after letting out a heaving sound that sounded suspiciously like laughter, he splashed back into the water. _

_"Ooh, cool!" One of them breathed. "I told you that our hard work would pay off! I knew that if we bribed the Giant Squid continuously with food, he would bring us treasure from the bed of the lake. Did you know, it's rumored that the only model of the StarFire29 broom is lying at the bottom of the lake..." He trailed off as he walked towards the pile, his friends walking excitedly beside him. _

_He bent down and flipped the thing over, and for a while, all was silent._

_"Eww!__ Gross! What the hell is this?!" Someone exclaimed into the morning. _

_And there, lying at their feet was a rather muddled up, and looking worse for the wear, was Alex Whipple. _

*** End Flashback ***

Lily struggled to hold back her laughter as she gazed in a slight daze as he finished his story. It wasn't that it had been torturous for him, in fact, Lily was hoping for something more interesting, but the way that he recounted it, with his long, pole-thin arms waving around like windmills, and his crazy cross-eyed look that made her want to burst out laughing. 

Finally, she could no longer hold it back.

"Would you please excuse me..." She muttered haltingly, mirth shining in her eyes. She turned to one side, grabbed her bag, pressed it to her face, and let out a loud shriek of laughter that the bag failed to muffle. 

"Yea?" She replied when she had finished, looking up at him again. 

"Lily," he whined. "That wasn't funny at all! For all you know, I could have been hurt... or maybe even dead!"

"Miracles don't happen everyday," Lily replied dryly. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have lessons to attend..." And she left, laughter bubbling out of her mouth at every step of the way. 

*

James leant back in his chair and tilted it so that it rested only on its two back legs. He hummed tunelessly, letting an expression of satisfaction appear on his face.

"Easy peasy," Sirius muttered from his place beside James. 

They were supposed to be transfiguring mushrooms into a ring of magical fairy mushrooms, and while many were still struggling with the basic colour transformation, the pair were done, and even had additional touches. 

A minute rose fairy sat primly in the centre of James' transfiguration, on the biggest mushroom of stunning silver, something that was not part of the requirements, while Sirius' mushroom ring were splashed with a wealth of colour, each of the seven with the pictures of the Slytherin Quidditch Players on a dart board pictured on it. 

Sirius flashed a wide smile at McGonagall as she walked past, her lips thinning in disapproval at his work. But, miraculously, she walked past without a word escaping her lips. He turned his smirk onto James. 

"My charm works like a charm." A confused look past his face, as he tried to figure out what he just said. "Ahh. or something like that."

Behind them, Remus leant forward as he completed his transfiguration, (with small toads sitting under the mushrooms) and conjured up small darts, and started shooting them at Sirius' mushrooms. 

McGonagall walked past and frowned at them. "Lupin, try to refrain from mutilating Black's mushrooms before a grade is given." And she bustled away to the other side of the classroom, where the Slytherins were seated, to check their progress.

All was quiet save for the occasional muttering and tapping of wands. 

"Nott," McGonagall's wry voice rose from one of the Slytherin tables. "Remember that we are trying to transfigure mushrooms, not Malfoy. No matter how much you think he looks like a mushroom."

Sirius muffled the laughter that was bubbling out of his mouth as sounds of Nott's furious, but somewhat useless, protests drifted over to the Marauders table. He smirked in a satisfied way, and tilted his chair back, twirling his wand and calmly examining to damage he had wrought. 

The spiral designs on Nott's mushrooms has been transplanted onto Malfoy, so that has hair and his face was coloured in mind-boggling swirls of black and white, green and silver. Malfoy glared disgusted as he inspected his new look in a compact mirror, and his black rimmed eyes blinked menacingly. 

McGonagall cut into Nott's protests with a collected, "We shall discuss your detention after lessons has ended-" but before her sentence had ended, a loud clonking sounded through the classroom, and everyone turned their heads towards the source of the noise, irritated that their concentration was disrupted. 

The front legs of James' chair dropped back onto the ground, but he appeared nonplussed at the glares he was receiving, and after a moment, heads turned back downwards as people resumed their work. 

"I'm missing something," he said, as he peered closely at his work.

Peter snorted and looked up as he completed. "Oh, who cares, you're probably gonna get another full score, not counting credit."

"Ah, got it..." James exclaimed, not taking heed of what Peter had said, he frowned and prodded with his wand, and a moment later, beautiful white Lilies sprung up around the mushrooms. 

Sirius snorted. "_Lily, oh Lily." _He said in a sing-song voice, earning startled glances at his sudden outburst from the people around them. 

McGonagall came around, nostrils flaring. 

"Black!" She barked. "I don't mind you fooling around after you've completed your assignment, but please do not disrupt the concentration of other around here!" She turned her glare onto the other three Marauders who were snickering at Sirius. "And you three, what is your fascination with our Head Girl?"

"Us, Professor?" Remus replied innocently. 

"Yes, Lupin," she replied tightly. "What is this about Miss Evans?"

Her question was met with silence. She let out a small disbelieving snort. "Do not tell me you do not know who the Head Girl is, especially you James!"

She got four questioning gazes in return. 

"Surely not?!" Her mouth thinned further, something no one had though possible. "Miss Lily Evans is an outstanding student, and I expect you to get to know her well. It is a rare chance that both Head Students come from the same house, and you must set an example!" 

"Yes Prof-" It took a few moments for the fact to register in James' brain, but finally it did. He cut off in mid-sentence, staring off into space for a while, before returning so abruptly that you had to wonder if his concentration had left McGonagall for even a second. 

"-Lily.? Lily Evans, you said?"

"I believe that was exactly what I said Potter. Try to remember that next time."

"**_LILY?!?!_**" 

"Yes, Potter!" McGonagall replied in irritation at his sudden outburst. 

"YES!" He jumped up from his seat, sending it crashing to the ground in a resounding thud, and punched a fist into the air, that narrowly missing McGonagall's nose, eyes shining in happiness. 

McGonagall spoke furiously, but the words all but went unheard in James' brain. 

*

The four of them walked easily along the corridors after lessons that day, with an easy-going smile on their faces. They were friends with many, but good friends with none, save themselves, and only smiled in greeting to those they knew who passed them, and not stopping to chat. 

"I can't believe I forgot the Head Girl's name was Lily!" James exclaimed loudly. 

"Now, see," Peter cut in. "I told you we should have stayed and watched!"

"Well," Remus said dispassionately. "It came at a price though," he pointed out.

Sirius waved his hand in a dismissive manner at his friend. "Aww. what is two detentions to someone who already has five hundred under his belt?"

Remus shrugged. "True."

*

The four were assembled in James' room after dinner. 

"Shouldn't we at least use the Map to check if she's there first?" Peter asked. "She might not be there you know?" 

"She will be," James replied confidently. "Anyway, the Map is in the Gryffindor Tower and I'm not going to wait."

After that somewhat amazing revelation, the Marauders were discussing paying the mysterious Head Girl a visit, of course, not by the way a normal person would have done, but via secret passage. 

"Well then, what are waiting for?" Peter shrugged and stood up, and the rest followed him to the panel of wall behind which lay the newly-discovered secret passage. 

They panel opened and then clicked shut, and the fire cast a flickering glow over the place where the had once stood. 

*

Remus lead the way, his wand casting a small pool of light in front of them so that they could make out their way. The dust caught in the beam of light twinkled as they drifted around in the swirls of air created by the four, and dust that had been untouched for what could possibly be centuries whirled around their feet and ankles. Other than that, everything outside the small globe of light was pitch black. 

*

"Oh, hurry up!" James said for about the hundredth time since they had started the walk, the excitement in his voice was plain, and it was starting to infect every single one of them and their pace quickened considerably until the were walking along in ground eating strides. 

Not ten minutes later, the four stood outside the opposite end of the passage, and they pushed wrenched the lever down. 

The moments between them pulling the panel and it opening seemed interminable, especially to James, who waited with bated breathe, as though he was on the verge of an amazing discovery, yet, it only seconds passed before they could peer into the room.  

A slight pause later...

"Well," Sirius turned back from the vantage point he had, hovering halfway out of the door, and looked at his friends. "The room's empty."

James shoved his way to the front, almost causing Sirius to topple out into the room, before Remus and Peter could grab him back into the passageway. 

"Let's go in and see then," James said after a while. "She might be downstairs."

Before he could step out into the room, the sound of the knob turning caught them. 

"Oh, good she's back!" James exclaimed. 

But, as the door creaked open inch by inch, it was evident that the shadow cast by the flickering flames, no matter how distorted, did not belong to a girl of any sort, and the sounds that followed certainly were not made by a female. 

A deep croaky voice singing the wrong words to wizarding tune they knew well floated into the room. 

"What the-" Sirius exclaimed as he heard it. 

The shock of it cost them to topple back into the passageway with a thump, and four following 'ouch's' to be heard.

*

Alex paused at the door as he heard voices coming from the room. A chorus of what sounded like 'ouch's', albeit very muffled could be heard, followed by a click, and then all was silent. 

                                              ~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hey! People! I love you guys to death! (Well, I'm not going to kill you!) Everyone, Happy New Year, and as we past 2004, let's reflect on the past year, what we want to do and don't want to do in the upcoming year, and know how lucky you are that you have managed to live past 2004. 

Ok, back to the crazy old me! Well, seriously, work has started for me and it's been real crazy, since I entered a new stage, erm, junior college that is. So I really am quite unused to all the long days and additional stuff. Well, I'm sorry, but even as I say I'll try my best to update ASAP, and regularly, I'm afraid that it's not possible. I'm not going to stop writing coz writing is a passion for me, so well, hope you guys can patiently wait for every new chapter. 

Oh, yes, this chapter seemed a little weird for me, I hope you find it enjoyable enough though. It came to me after quite some time, so it might be a little off. 

And, yes, I'll try to get the next chapter out within the week. (cross my fingers that I can pull it off) Since I have a special Valentine's Day edition to put in...

~cube


	12. The Knight in Rusty Armor

~~~

**Turn Left Turn Right.**

**Chapter 12: The Knight In Rusty Armor. **

----

**Disclaimer**: Am not J.K. Rowling. Don't sue.

-----

**Summary**: Two people who are destined to be together, (Lily and James) never meet but are always only a few feet away from each other. They live in bliss, ignorant of others, until one day they chance upon an encounter with each other and realise that their lives have missing pieces in it. They part, but then, are unable to contact each other again, leaving two love- torn teenagers desperately trying to find their other half.

18th March 2004

***

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Squiggles1**: Oopsy... Your worst nightmares have come true. And I did put Joy in this chapter. –Evil music please- And it ill end up in a meeting, or well, a meeting in the next chapter anyway... Well, school year starts in January and we have a week break in March and September, and a month in June, and two months in November/December. =) And there is another part Alex bashing in this chapter. By the most unexpected thing. 

**Indiangurl**: You read me too well! Yea... But oh well, Alex gets some back. 

**ShorTi**: SOON!!! They'll meet soon! Okok, I keep saying that, but soon! 

**MightyMouth**: Lol, ok, I'm updating already. I brought brushes too! For the tomatoes in my hair. _ YEP... WATCH OUT FOR… 

**Jac****:** ME?? A COW?!?! –dark mutters-

**Fulldark**: Yes, soon I know... No cliffie this time.. I think...

**Catherine24**: I hope you find the little Alex-humiliating fun!

**Phoenix**: Thanks! And I'm updating! 

**Lily-Girl-Marauder**: I'm back! Again. (psst: I keep saying they're gonna meet eh? Oh well, soon I suppose. Anyway, it's almost the last time you'll see Alex and Joy…) 

**Raine**** an Frodo**: Hehe... thanks. =)

**Abby123**: Which part was confusing? Hmmm, well, thanks anyway. =)

**Kittikat**: Hmm... It's the part where they're calling all the numbers so that they can reach it other. 

**FrightninglyObsessed**: Sorry I couldn't get it up! Anyway, yea, it's here...

**Allie**: Thanks! =)

**Blueseveryday**: Me too!! But you already knew that didn't you! =) HEehhehe… Oh, March Holidays! My favourite time of the year. Well, besides June, September and December of course! 

**ScreamMyHeadOff**: Thanks! =)

**SunnyDae**: Arghh!!!! Alex/Giant Squid! Arghhhh!!!! Nightmares! 

**Teresaange**l: Yep, it's from a Chinese show. And I'm from S'pore... Lol: S'pore spore. I'm lame. Ok. 

**LJstagflower4e**: Wahahaha!!! Alex gets a little something back here!

**Aurora_borealis**: I hope you laugh at this chapter. My sis was. She fell out of her chair and started snorting incoherently. Hmmm… Anyway, they're gonna meet real soon. (That's what I keep saying.. Lol!)

**Agloechen**: Lily doesn't let him stay in her room, and hmmm... they have different lessons... I hope it's explained well in the chapter. Anyway, you'll be seeing close to the last of Alex... Cheer!!

**Kat44**: SHUDDER!!! Alex and JAMES?!?!?!! You just gave me nightmares for the rest of my life… weeheeehee. 

**Dee Ann**: Yep, they're meeting soon, but not by the way you described. In fact, it's quite out of the ordinary. =)

**Firewalker32**: Ok! Hurrying!

**Lady Cecilia**: Oopsy. I bet you're gonna hate Alex even more after this. 

**cHoCoLaTeZ**: =) I absolutely love James, Sirius and Remus too! –DROOLS- I should write more of them, don't you think??? Wanders of muttering "Sirius... Remus..." under her breath. 

**Swishy ****Willow**** Wand**: Thanks. =)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lord Voldemort sat idly in his throne, twirling a small glowing globe in his long fingers. The globe was bronze, with a faint glow emitting from its centre, and runes were written in a seemingly haphazard way all over it. 

He stared at it one moment, before, moving his fingers to turn the globe, like a rubix cube, so that the runes fell into place. 

The globe fell open neatly down a spilt in the middle and a figure swathed in thick shawls and with too large eyes rose up from within. 

_the__ one with the power to vanquish the dark lord approaches  
born to those who have thrice defied him   
._

_.  
.   
and either must die….. at the hand of the other for neither can live…... while the other survives   
._

_._

_ the flower… and the stag… _

One of his Death Eaters had managed to record bits of the prophecy before the fool Dumbledore had found out, and most of the prophecy had been cut out. But still, right at the very end, before self consciousness had tried to overcome the woman, she had strained to get the last bit of the prophecy out... _the flower, and the stag._

His eyes flared with sudden anger. 

***Flashback***

_Lucius__ Malfoy stepped out of the circle of watching Death Eaters to face Voldemort, a boy of barely sixteen, but already close to being inducted into the inner circle._

_"My Lord, I have found the two."_

_"Is that so?" Voldemort asked. "Tell me, are you certain? You do know the price of failure don't you, Lucius?" _

_Malfoy nodded once, confidently. _

_"James Potter my Lord," came the swift reply. _

_Voldemort's nostrils flared. "And the other, Lucius?" _

_Malfoy hesitated before answering. "It's a muggleborn my Lord... a certain… ah… Lily Evans."_

_Voldemort's eyebrow arced. "A muggleborn?"_

_"Yes, my Lord, I'm certain. She's a powerful witch, maybe too powerful..."_

_"Ahh… I see..."_

***End Flashback***

His long white fingers gripped the ball. They had already refused him once. But a smirk edged into that look of fury. The ancient charms of dark magic had already been placed...

They had no hope of meeting each other...

*

"_Lily is a who-re,  
Lily is a who-re_," Sirius sang at the top of his voice once they were back in James' room. 

Remus threw a pillow at him in irritation. "Quit it will you?" He snapped, casting a pointed expression at James who had not muttered a word since their return to the room about half an hour ago. 

"Oh come on Prongsie-boy," Sirius sang out again while warding off Remus' pillow and jiggled along towards where James was. Apparently Sirius, being who he was, found the situation exceedingly amusing. "Stop brooding over it."

James looked up at him. "Hmm, you're right. It might not have been her anyway."

*

The next day, a Saturday, Lily walked quickly down the long Hogwarts hallway, looking down at the floor. 

She was just walking around to clear her head before brining herself to face the spawn of Satan, a certain Alex Whipple. 

'I am not running away from him. I am not running!' Lil thought strongly to herself. 

'**_Ahh, but it certainly seems like it_**_,_' a certain nasty voice in her head spoke out. 

'Yea...' Lily thought, and let out a small sigh. 'I always seem to be running...'

She stopped walking and leant against the cold stone walls, thinking about what was happening. 

"Ah! Found you!" An annoyingly familiar voice spoke up from around the corner, and Lily let out an audible hiss. 

'Well, he just brings out the bad side in me,' Lily thought mirthlessly to herself. 'Well, it's time to do something.'

As Alex rounded the corner, Lily fingered her wand slowly, and brought it out of her pocket. She had a perfect cover – the suit of armor that hid most of her from view. 

"Lily! Come on! Why are you hiding around the bloody castle like that? You're not avoiding me, are you?" Alex cried out. 

She sneaked a peek through the side of the armor's breastplate, and as Alex approached a metre of her, she prepared to jump out, but what happened next was not what she had expected. 

Certainly not what she expected at all... 

Lily's muscles tensed as she prepared to spring out from behind the suit of armor, the metal in front of her moved.

As she stood back, staring in wide-eyed astonishment mixed with amusement, the armor stood upright, with much creaking and clanking, and marched stiffly to stand directly in front of Alex. 

"Halt!" Gravelly sounding tones – _not unlike those of a rather pompous 18th century noble_ – came out from under the steel helmet. 

Alex drew up short as he stared in fascination at the antique. 

"Who goes there?" He questioned Alex. 

"**_IT IS ME_**! Alex Whipple, the most handsome, most knowledgeable and most _buff_ wizard that has very graced the magical world!" Alex answered even more pompously, glaring at the armor like looking like the moron he was. "Let me pass now!"

_It was an extremely bad idea, but Alex wasn't to know that..._

The particular suit of armor he was talking to was, in fact, **Sir Maximillian Antonio Regulus Demitrov Roderick de Lokenharte XIII**. And, his great-great-great-grandson was known by all in Hogwarts as... Gilderoy Lockhart. And, as the old saying – a chip of the old block – goes Gilderoy Lockhart here had inherited something from his ancestors. And, that something had been the enormously egoistic nature of all Lockhart males, which meant...

The armor immediately took offense at that. 

It gave something that Lily thought was a snort yet sounded like an elephant blowing its nose, and said, "you?!" He snorted again, and Lily grimaced at the sound. "You... – he looked Alex up and down – _no strong chin... ears too large... nose too small... body not proportioned properly... and with a head the size of a peanut... You can't be the most handsome_ – another snort – , _most knowledgeable_ – and, Lily had no idea how, he gave the impression of a raised eyebrow of mockery _– or... the most buff in the wizarding world_." At the last, he struck a pose in front of an astonished Alex, and a Lily who was trying to stifle her laughter. 

"While I, the thirteenth heir to the Lokenharte fortune, **Sir Maximillian Antonio Regulus Demitrov Roderick de Lokenharte XIII, **has brains, brawn and buff! Something that you lack." He took on an incredibly stuffy tone. "What's this I hear about you chasing a lady around? Absolutely no manners at all!" He sniffed and gave an air of glaring at Alex in contempt. 

"But she is my fiancée!" Alex blustered. 

"Is this true, milady?" Sir Lokenharte turned around and looked at Lily. 

Lily shook her head frantically. "Oh... no!" Lily replied sweetly, and smiled at Alex. 

"But Lily!" He whined. 

Sir Lokenharte nodded approvingly. "Good choice milady. I absolutely shudder at the thought of such a fine young lady like yourself betrothed to a no-mannered and big-headed lad like him." He turned his attention back onto Alex. 

"See there? Now off with you!" Sir Lokenharte bellowed. 

Alex tried to reach around the suit of armor to grab Lily by the wrist, but a sharp slap to his hand by Sir Lokenharte caused his arm to drop back to his side quickly, with him massaging the injured limb and glaring dolefully at Lokenharte. 

"YOU BIG BLUBBERHEAD… You – YOU... _vile... dunderhead...,"_ Lokenharte yelled imperiously. 

(cheers to MightyMouth!)

Alex leapt back a little at the harsh tone of voice, and straightened back up again once he found his spine. 

Lokenharte continued, getting more and more agitated with each rusty word that came out of his helmet, until he was practically quivering and sending off sparks down the metal. 

"Can't you see she's in _distress_??" He swiveled his head 360degrees to look back at Lily. "Well, yes, that a nice dress you have on... but not _this dress_... she's in **_distress_**, and you're not making it any better!" And he turned his head back round again to stare at Alex. 

Alex glared right back into the helmet, and asked, "who're you to say anything?"

The armor cocked its helmet to one side, with a "duh-duh" air hanging around him, as if the answer could not be anymore painfully obvious, and appearing to roll his eyes, if he even had them, and asking himself what he had ever done in his life to meet the brat standing in front of him. 

"I'm her knight in shining armor, of course!" 

Lily snorted as she heard that sentence, and the mental image of Gilderoy Lockhart, a seventh-year Hufflepuff, encased metal came to mind, and she snorted again.  

'Hmm... Shining... Rather rusty knight would have been a much more accurate description..." She wondered idly to herself. 

But Sir Lokenharte had started talking again, and she focused her attention back on them to see what other surprises he was about to spring on Alex. 

"**YOU**! I'm warning you! stay away from the lady her or I'll... I'll..." he towered menacingly over Alex, and leant forward, ominously sticking a hand out in a fist towards Alex's nose. Alex leant back slowly, until he was on the brink of toppling backwards. And, even as he was being threatened by a suit of armor that could break his bones like twigs, he chose that exact moment to open his extremely big mouth. 

"But I'm her fiancée! And what are you going to do to me? Help!" He whined. 

And, with that, Sir Lokenharte uncurled his index finger from the fist in a swift spring, and the digit struck Alex right under his nose. Well, the outcome was rather amusing, as the tiny prod caused Alex to lose his balance and topple heavily onto the floor. 

"Whoopsie," Lokenharte murmured idly, staring at Alex on the floor, sounding rather happy, and not with a faint bit of remorse at all. 

*

"PADFOOT! WATCH OUT!" 

Sirius heard James' yell and turned around, a split second before Remus came barreling into him on his StarFire100, and the both hurtled out of the air. 

"Ouch..." James muttered, covering his eyes, before going to check if his friends were fine. 

It was at that moment when McGonagall stalked out of he castle, rushing towards them. 

"Potter!" She barked. "What happened here? As captain, you should know full well there should be minimal injuries. 

She walked up to Sirius, who was sitting on the grass with a dazed look about him. "Oh... hiya Professor..."

"Black! What happened!" She snapped. 

"Oh... Remus struck me on the backside and then went to rest in a bush with just his rear end showing," Sirius answered dazedly, looking around, and pointing out the tail end of Remus' broomstick to McGonagall. 

James and Peter snorted into their hands on hearing Sirius' reply, and quickly straightened their faces once they realised McGonagall was frowning at them. 

She pursed her lips, and hurried over to extract Remus and his broom from the bush. A large purple bruise was forming on the side of his head. 

"Ooh... Looks painful," Peter murmured as he watched Remus stagger around waving at "the little birds flying around him" that nobody could see. 

"Something hurts..." Remus called out while swatting in front of his face. "I wonder what does... Hmmm..." 

Peter eyed him suspiciously through the corners of his eyes. "Maybe we should include some protective head gear in our quidditch uniform… Something like the turnips Arabs wear on their heads…" Peter mused quietly. 

"Turnips, Pettigrew, turnips," a voice said blandly from in front of them, and they looked up to see the figure of the Muggle Studies Professor standing with McGonagall. "And you do realise you're taking the NEWTS this year, don't you?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. 

"Turnips? I meant Arabs wear turbines on their heads. Wait, that doesn't sound right," he said quickly as the Professor shot him another look. "I meant turbans! Arabs wear _turbans_ on their heads!" 

"Poor, Pettigrew, very poor..." the Professor tutted, before heading back to school, leading both Sirius and Remus to the Hospital Wing. 

"Oh great!" Peter muttered. "So what do we do now? We certainly can't play quidditch with only the two of us around. Hey James, I'm going back in. You coming?" 

"Nahh," James shook his head and watched Peter disappear into the castle before flying leisurely down the road to Hogsmeade, spiraling gently in the wind. 

*

Lily wandered down the path with not an inkling on where she was headed, but soon found her feet walking down the main street of Hogsmeade and slip into the area of Hogsmeade where she had first met the guy. 

She walked around, and realised, with a huge stab to her heart that the place was being taken down. A large signboard proclaiming the opening of an amusement park sung gently in the breeze. 

Sadness welled up in her as she walked around the carousal and saw the wooden beasts laid out on the grass. She moved to stand over one particular one, a black unicorn with a single golden horn and gazed fondly at it. 

"Locomotor Mortis," Lily said, and a binds sprang out of her wand, wrapping itself around the unicorn. 

She flicked her wand deftly, and the unicorn starting moving in front of her. 

*

James stared forlornly at the fountain that had once been filled with water, but now lay drained. It was where he had first met Lily. He walked slowly around it, remembering the events that had led them to meet and start talking. 

Then, he turned and left in the direction of the carousal. 

*

Lily led the unicorn out of the area, and down the street back to Hogwarts, when someone accosted her path. 

"Lily! My darling," Alex exclaimed into the air, causing a few people to turn and stare. "What are you doing!" 

Lily tried her best to ignore him, but he was completely blocking her way. 

"Let me help you!" He yelled out again, and pounced on the unicorn, pushing it along the street.

"Alex! I can do it myself!" Lily exclaimed in frustration.

"It's ok! I can do it for you!" And with that he started pushing the horse all the way up to the castle, with Lily rushing behind him to catch up. 

*

Lucius Malfoy strolled up the street, tossing a small black box in his hand, then catching it, then tossing it again. He was in an unusually happy mood, and when that happened, it was to be expected that someone was going to suffer in the near future. Once he reached a corner, he scanned the streets, and quickly ducked into the alleyway.

"You're late Malfoy," a feminine voice chided, her face covered in shadows. 

He shrugged. "Well, I'm here already."

"Where is it?"

He held out the black box to her.

She took it and opened the lid, staring for a moment at the swirling liquid in the clear crystal vial. And she nodded, pressing ten galleons in his open palm before checking the street for anyone looking at them and slipping out. As she lowered her hood, he caught sight of a certain head covered in mousy brown hair…  
  


  
*

James came out of the row of hedges, directing a white pegasus from behind him. 

"James!" A voice yelled from behind him, and he turned around. 

"Joy?" A surprised frown appeared on his face. "What are you doing here?" 

"Come to help you of course!" She replied brightly, appearing to have forgotten the good scolding James had given her the previous time. 

She started pushing the pegasus along the street, shouting over her shoulder at James. 

"You see, we are fated to be together," she was saying. "That I keep meeting you in time of your need is proof of this. If we weren't fated, then how would I have known to look for you here!" 

James shook his head in disbelief. '_Now, what the hell is she talking about?!_' 

Running after her, he flicked his wand, muttering, "Wingardium Leviosa," so that the pegasus floated up into the air towards the castle. "Haven't you heard of magic, Redknapp?" He shouted as he flew past her on his broom, heading towards the castle.

"_Wait for me!_"

*

"Ahhh..." Alex let put a contented sigh as he stepped through the portrait hole into Lily's room. "I feel so tired, and sweaty, maybe I should take a bath... Hmmm... That sounds like a good idea…" He said, and stripping off his shoes and socks, bounded upstairs to the bathroom. 

Lily scrunched up her nose before carefully leaning the horse on one of the walls, checking for any damage Alex could have done. She conjured a large bag, and started flicking Alex's stuff inside using her wand. A rag and some Mrs Skower's All Purpose Magical Mess Remover started wiping away at the floor, making a sparkling trail up the stairs. 

She stood outside the closed bathroom door, hearing Alex sing for a moment before opening her mouth to speak, "Alex, I really don't like you! Every time you come in here, I have to spend hours cleaning off the stuff you leave behind… I already like someone else... I–" 

The door had slammed open to reveal a sopping wet Alex with white foam atop his head. 

Lily started back in surprise at the upset look on his face. 

"Just wait a while!" He barked. "You didn't tell me you already liked someone!" He closed the door again, and shouted from within. "Give me a moment! How do you expect me to leave when I'm looking like this!" 

*

Joy raced into the room right before James slammed the door shut. 

"Oh, I'm beat!" She muttered, and sank down into one of James squishy chairs. 

"You didn't do anything," James snorted.

"I did have to run after you. Can't you slow down? You know I have short legs," Joy whined. 

She focused her attention on a blank screen in front of her, and pressed a few buttons beside it. The screen flickered to life. 

"Don't you have to go home or something?" James asked in irritation.

"Not now!" Joy answered vaguely, waving her hand at him to keep quiet. "There's a live telecast of the Quidditch League! Two games in a row..." 

James settled on cleaning the pegasus, mounting it on his own tiny carousal, and enchanting it so Lilies always grew around its edges, and he started talking quietly to himself. 

"_This isn't what destiny is like,  
If two people meet and they fall in love,  
That's destiny for sure.  
If neither loves the other,  
Even if they meet millions of times, it's still not destiny.  
If one's in love and the other isn't,  
And the one who's in love grabs on and won't let go,  
While the other just wants to run away,  
Not only is it not destiny... It's pain..._

I used to love watching quidditch matches, mind you... I still do, but watching it with you is a little more than unnerving. Who knows... I would love to hex you into oblivion..."

Joy had stood up looking at him. "Fine! I'll go. Hold this for me while I get my stuff!" She held out a can of Coke to him.

He took it and watched her pack, feeling so happy that she was leaving that he sub-consciously lifted the can to his mouth and drank it. A light airy feeling overcame him...

*

Alex came stomping out of the bathroom, leaving a smell of shaving cream and cologne wafting after him. Lily screwed up her nose and ventured into the steaming confines of the warm bathroom. Her black trash bag floated behind her and started scooping up the bottles of shampoo and soap that he had used, and Mrs Skower's worked to wash the bath-tub clean. Another flick opened a big window, and paper fans appeared to fan merrily at the steam and stench, dispersing it towards the window. 

*

Joy smirked, as she noticed the carefree expression on James' face. 'I have him now...'

*

_James floated, watching galaxies fly past him in the blink of an eye, finally coming to rest at a place of darkness, with just two stars, one in the North, the other in the south. _

_The one in the North was giving off a faint scent of Lilies, and was glowing white, with swirls of purple and blue dancing in it. He turned to face the other star, a tiny one, with only the occasional flickers to indicate it was even there. It was a deep red. Then, pink started to flow into it, so fast that James was also drifting along with the flow. Somehow, he knew that the other star in the North was diminished. _

_As he got closer to the South star, he could see very clearly, a deep red, now overflowing with pink. But, suddenly, a strange black pulse beat across it's surface. He recoiled from, feeling a strong sense of revulsion he could not explain, and turned instead to the North Star. It was glowing dimly now, but still, a scent of Lilies floated from it, and he struggled against the flow of the pink sparkles to reach it. _

_After what seemed like eternity, he felt himself touching it, and a warm glow erupted inside his heart. **'Lily...'**_

*

The smile on Joy's face froze as the happy look on James' face intensified, and his eyes came into focus. Then, seeing her, he let out an angry snarl, and leapt up, slapping her around the face. 

Words seemed to have failed him. "A love potion, Redknapp? And I thought you could sink no lower. Out!" He yelled. 

Joy was rooted to the spot by his outburst. 

"_GET OUT!_" 

*

Alex stomped down the stairs, and back up again, searching the room. His eyes came to rest on the C-globe, and he stomped towards it, hitting it on the side. 

"Please programme a new voice message," a voice said.

"This is _83665! JUST LEAVE YOUR DAMNED MESSAGE!_" He snapped into the C-globe. 

"Voice message recorded," the voice replied. 

Alex huffed angrily and stomped out of the room. 

*

Joy spotted the C-globe sitting innocently on the table, and she stalked over to it, slamming it around the side. 

"This is _82664,__ just leave your damned message!_" She yelled into the C-globe and stomped out of the room. 

*

Out in the Head corridor, two doors slammed simultaneously. 

                                          ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  


Ooh... I loved the knight part! Anyway, yea, Joy is such a conniving little b**** isn't she... And I wrote the first paragraph of the next chapter already. WAHAHHAHAHAHAHA. Ok, I'm acting funny here. 

Anyway, they're gonna meet soon. SOON I SAY! Ok, no promises now. So well, enjoy!

~cube


	13. a preview

Hello! It's me here, anyway, yes, I'm painfully aware that I haven't updated in what, FOUR MONTHS! Gosh.

Hmm, yes, I'm having my term tests when school reopens, in a week, and I SWEAR that I will get the next chapter up by mid-July if not sooner.

Anyway, I'm currently in the process of reviewing my written works, and I'm going to post the re-written chapters up. I realize the style might be quite different, but I feel that it completes the story more thoroughly. The re-posts will come in at least a week's time, so could you guys do me a favour and tell me what you think about how I write now?

Oh yes, I suppose I can't leave it at just a simple author's note, can I?

-cube

--------------- A peak at what's to come ---------------------------------------

Lily stared down at what was spread haphazardly on the table in front of her, shock painting that lovely face of her. Not a single muscle moved.

Time seemed to freeze right then, and after an infinitely long moment, a single wet drop appeared on the polished oak table.

----------------------------------------

"NO!" James yelled as he threw sheets across the room as hard as humanely possible, seeming as though he wanted to forget that it even existed. For a moment, he stared blankly into space, before stumbling into a wall.

His legs buckled beneath him and he slid down the wall, landing to rest on the floor, looking as though a rather large brick had been hurled at him. He was stunned.

'_How could this have happened?_' He thought to himself as he gripped his head with both his hands.

----------------------------------------

"Are you certain this is what we should do?" Alex asked the girl at his side, trying very hard to keep what he felt inside. Yet, some concern still painted his face.

Joy shrugged.

-----------------------------------------

Dumbledore appeared older than ever as he sat in his chair in his office. Sensing his emotions, Fawkes fluttered down from his perch to land on the edge of the heavy oak table.

Dumbledore sighed before pulling at his magic, testing the wards that where woven seemingly around the school yet not quite so. The wards flexed and held steady.

'_Only time would tell_.'

He hurriedly wiped all emotion from his face before resuming a smiling and confident façade as a knock sounded on his door.

"Come in," he said.

Minerva Mcgonagall stepped into the office, holding a large sheath of parchment that was undoubtedly the months' disciplinary record.

He tuned her out as she started on her report, analyzing what misbehavior the students had gotten into, and what had been done in accordance, making appropriate sounds of interest to make it seem as though he was paying full attention.

Yet, somewhere in his mind, he thought, 'weaknesses must not be shown. The world as we know it is entering into dark times, and everything rests on the shoulders of two who are barely adults.'

Nodding his head absently, he wondered if what had forced fate apart could be broken, and if the two were strong enough to bring fate back onto its path.


End file.
